The Wasatch County Council held a meeting on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 where several topics were discussed, including COVID-19 updates and zoning amendments to the Jordanelle Basin Overlay Zone.
County Health Director Randall Probst gave an update on COVID-19 for Wasatch County. From a per capita rating (per 100,000), Wasatch County has overtaken Summit County to have the second-highest count in Utah, with only San Juan County being higher. There were 17 hospitalizations at the time of the update (19 at the time of printing). He added that Salt Lake hospitals are nearing capacity and are now sending Covid patients to other nearby hospitals.
Probst mentioned that anyone desiring to hold an event in the county should fill out the template at www.coronavirus.utah to request an event review.
Councilman Kendall Crittenden discussed a potential land trade between Heber Light and Power and Wasatch County regarding “Cowboy Village” and about 5 acres behind the Wasatch Events Center. In 2001, the county and power company traded the two properties, giving “Cowboy Village” to the county and the power company the land behind the Event Center. Heber Light and Power would like to trade back, taking the Cowboy Village land and giving Wasatch County the land by the Event Center. The possible need for a public hearing was considered by the Council. Councilman Crittenden requested that more discussion be held in a closed session. After the closed session, the Council decided to continue the discussion at a later date to allow for additional research.
Also, several code amendments for the Jordanelle Basin Overlay Zone (JBOZ) were proposed. The JBOZ was originally written as a stand-alone document, but was later merged into Title 16, so the recent amendments deleted the redundant sections covered elsewhere.
The new amendments will also allow for some additional land uses in the area. Professional offices, recording and sound studios, finance and insurance offices, personal services (such as barbershops), professional services (such as county and medical offices), educational services (including schools, yoga studios, etc.), cultural activities (such as art exhibits and museums), and recreational activities (such as golf courses) were all added as acceptable land uses in the area. Archery and firearms were also added as a conditional allowance but remain restricted from residential areas.
Some small changes in required setbacks were also included in the amendments.
The County Council found the changes to be consistent with goals of Wasatch County to “support activities that provide jobs which can support permanent resident households, … [encourage] commercial services near population centers, and [facilitate] commercial development in an area where residential development is increasing pressures for necessary services . . . .“
It was determined that the positive impact of the new amendments will be “flexibility in commercial zones for additional uses that could facilitate development of commercial areas.” The negative impacts were determined to be “reduced amount of retail commercial in developed projects that mix non-retail commercial uses.”
In the end, the Council decided to unanimously approve the amendments.
To see the schedule for upcoming Wasatch County Council meetings, or to view past meetings, go to https://docs.wasatch.utah.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/
