Providence will seek residents’ input before changing subdivision rules
September 16th, 2011 Posted in OpinionBy Mitch Figgat
PROVIDENCE– The City Planning Commission will not recommend changing the subdivision ordinance until a public hearing is held to garner public opinion and ascertain future risks.
City resident Sean Christianson, a contractor, came before the commission Wednesday night asking for a change to city ordinance 721. Christianson asked that the ordinance be changed to allow single-family home lots of only 10,000 square feet. The ordinance currently dictates that all single family home lots must be no less than 12,000 square feet.
“I would like to subdivide the two lots I have into a third,” said Christianson. “One will go to my daughter, the other will be put on sale,”
City Administrator Skarlet Bankhead said state law would not allow an individual variance in Christianson’s case. “It is a case of straight property lines and fences,” Bankhead said. “There are no natural obstacles such as rivers or ravines to allow a variance on the state law.”
The commission moved to hold a public hearing to ascertain if a complete change to the ordinance would be in the best interest to the entire city.
“We want to see what kind of instances can come back and bite us in the rear end,” said Commissioner Gordon Allred.
Commissioner Carrie Kirk stated that the Envision Cache Valley effort is partially an anti-density effort, and did not know how the changing of the minimal size of the lots would work with the valley-wide mission.
The public hearing will be held at the next Planning Commission meeting Sept. 29.
In other business the commission moved to not change an ordinance on whether the first construction project on an empty lot must be a residential construction.
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Tags: Planning Commission, Providence, subdivision ordinance
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