Millcreek planners recommend zoning code updates and approve Equipment Share facility, both 9-0

Decisions at a glance

Agenda, item by item

1. Item 1.1 · City code

   ZT-26-002: zoning and subdivision code updates

   Recommended for approval · 9-0

   The Planning Commission voted 9-0 to recommend that the City Council approve a round of zoning and subdivision code updates, mostly to match changes in state law, with four additions of its own. Planning Director Francis Lilly said two late items affected only how and when applicants apply for permits. No one spoke at the public hearing.

   • Commission additions: add malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance to the causes for removing a planning commissioner; set a maximum number of yard-sale days a year (the draft allows three consecutive days per event); require stealth monopoles in the RM zone; allow four-foot retaining walls beyond the first wall
   • Commissioner removal: adds the causes listed in state law, including impermissible bias, and says discussing a pending application with staff, an elected official or an applicant is not by itself cause. Commissioners Reid and Soule and a written comment from Commissioner Wright said the draft's catch-all cause, any other cause determined by the mayor, was too broad
   • Appeals: hearings limited to the appellant, the applicant, their representatives and staff; classification denials appealed to Third District Court
   • Subdivisions may keep noncompliant or nonconforming structures if the new lots meet lot coverage, size and setback standards
   • Home offices and home businesses with no employees and no on-site customers would be exempt from the change of use permit, which now costs $100
   • Nonconformity determinations could be made by the planning director from city records without a formal application
   • RM zone: open space of at least 60 square feet per unit allowed instead of private balconies
   • Replacing a noncomplying fence or retaining wall at the same height and location counts as ordinary maintenance
   • State law now bars rules on exterior materials, roof pitch and window placement for detached ADUs, so the local rules are removed
   • Standoff distance for wall-mounted wireless facilities rises from 24 to 36 inches

   Commissioner Larsen moved; Commissioner Richardson seconded.. Vote: 9-0; all nine commissioners voting yes

2. Item 2.1 · Development

   CUP-26-007: Equipment Share equipment transfer facility, 650 W 4100 S

   Approved with conditions · 9-0 · 650 W 4100 S, Millcreek

   The commission voted 9-0 to approve a conditional use permit for Equipment Share to use a 6.19-acre site in the Light Manufacturing zone as an equipment transfer facility, with four conditions. The site was a truck transfer facility until its business license expired in February 2026. No one spoke at the hearing.

   • Applicant: Equipment Share (Ryan Sexton, West Coast Construction Manager)
   • Acres: 6.19; existing building of about 7,200 square feet for offices and equipment repair; the rest is mostly outdoor storage of equipment such as bulldozers, excavators and aerial lifts, not a customer rental location
   • Operations: about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 to 15 full-time employees; an estimated 15 to 25 truck trips a day; access from 500 West with no connection to 700 West
   • Site: gravel storage area to limit dust; perimeter fence repaired; about one tree per 40 linear feet around the perimeter; the applicant also plans privacy slats and drip irrigation
   • Outreach: neighborhood meeting July 16 with no attendees; open house Sept. 1 with one neighbor attending
   • Conditions: valid business license; site plan approval and improvements within one year; comply with the operation and mitigation plans; no loading, unloading or moving of equipment before 7 a.m.

   Commissioner Anderson moved; Commissioner Burgess seconded.. Vote: 9-0; all nine commissioners voting yes

   Follow Equipment Share equipment transfer facility in the development tracker →

3. Item 3.4 · General plan

   900 East and 3300 South small area plan

   Discussed · Around 900 East and 3300 South

   Planner Sean Murray gave a progress report on a small area plan for the area around 900 East and 3300 South, begun after Granite School District showed interest in building employee housing on the open part of the Roosevelt Elementary property. The commission took no vote. The city is working with the consultant MHTN. After revisions the draft is to go to a public open house, with final adoption by the City Council.

   • Three concepts for the district property keep the open field and use row homes and apartments; one has a three-story building of about 42 two-bedroom units and 14 two-story three-bedroom townhomes with nearly an acre of green and plaza space
   • Murray said the concepts are illustrative, not an approved proposal, and the district has not decided whether to proceed
   • The former Salt Lake County library property is county-owned; the county is weighing options that include affordable housing, an arts center, another county facility or a sale
   • Mr. Lilly said state law requires school districts to offer surplus property to the city first and suggested the plan include a strategy to use that right
   • Whether to adopt an overlay zone for the area has not been decided
   • Resident feedback included building height, neighborhood character, parking, pedestrian safety, traffic speed and keeping the open field and small businesses

   Follow 900 East and 3300 South small area plan in the development tracker →

4. Item 3.5 · General plan

   Central Jordan River Reconnect plan

   Discussed · Jordan River corridor near 3900 South

   Planner Sean Murray described the Salt Lake County plan for the central Jordan River regional park, which involves five cities and which the Legislature designated. The commission took no vote; commissioners asked for shade, tree irrigation, clearer maps of Millcreek's segment and wayfinding signs, and the county is expected to present next month.

   • The plan's Focus Area 4 covers the Millcreek portion near 3900 South and proposes more natural stream channels, native planting and boardwalks
   • A longer-term proposal would raise the Meadowbrook Expressway and 3900 South bridge so the Jordan River Trail can pass under it

5. Item 3.2 · Zoning

   Housing subcommittee report: possible R-1-2 zone

   Discussed

   Commissioner Richardson reported that the housing subcommittee discussed a possible R-1-2 zoning district allowing lots of about 2,000 square feet, possibly with limits on home size, and agreed to include it as an option in the upcoming General Plan review to get community feedback. No vote was taken.

What residents said

Building height and neighborhood character near 900 East and 3300 SouthKeeping the open fieldParking and pedestrian safetyShade and tree irrigation on the river trail