Planning commission approves Auto Mall Drive building for cheer gym and dealership, sends parking cut to council
May 21, 2025, 6:00 p.m. · American Fork City Hall, 31 N. Church St.
The American Fork Planning Commission approved a site plan for a finished building at 452 E. Auto Mall Drive housing Rival Athletics, two retail shops and a high-end car dealership, leaving a requested parking reduction to the City Council and requiring a new review if tenants change. It also recommended a state-driven rewrite of the city's storm water enforcement code, during which Commissioner Bruce Frandsen said street runoff ends up on farmland he farms.
From the approved minutes.
Decisions at a glance
| Item | Result |
|---|---|
| 500 East Auto Mall Drive site plan with parking reduction request, 452 E. Auto Mall Drive, 3.81 acres | Approved with conditions · 6-0 |
| Storm water management and discharge control code update (Section 13.94) | Recommended for approval · 6-0 |
Agenda, item by item
Item 4a · Development
500 East Auto Mall Drive site plan with parking reduction request, 452 E. Auto Mall Drive, 3.81 acres
Approved with conditions · 6-0
The building was approved earlier as an office/warehouse in the PI-1 zone and later rezoned GC-2 for new tenants: a car dealership, a gymnasium and retail. The applicant asked for 89 stalls; Commissioner Bruce Frandsen estimated code would require about 206 and said citywide parking problems worried him. Applicant Jared Huish said Rival Athletics, a cheer and tumbling gym, runs classes after 4 p.m., children are dropped off, competitions are barred at the site, and the dealership sees about eight visitors a day; he said the building department had issued only a temporary certificate of occupancy pending this approval, which was causing financing problems. Commissioner Claire Oldham asked that any future change in use come back for review. The commission approved the site plan, with the City Council as the body to approve the parking reduction. (On June 18, 2025, a revised plan meeting code parking was approved without a reduction.)
- Applicant: Jared Huish
- Tenants: Rival Athletics (cheer gym), two retail shops, car dealership
- Acres: 3.81
- Zone: GC-2 (rezoned from PI-1)
- Parking: 89 stalls proposed; ~206 by Frandsen's estimate of code
- Conditions: council decides parking reduction; new review if tenant/use changes
Item 3a · City code
Storm water management and discharge control code update (Section 13.94)
Recommended for approval · 6-0
City Engineer Ben Hunter and Storm Water Supervisor Tyler Mezenen said state law changes require standardized storm water documents statewide, a state fee schedule for violations instead of routine stop-work orders, clearer owner responsibility for runoff and fewer cases needing land disturbance permits; stop-work orders remain for threats to public health or water quality. Commissioner Bruce Frandsen said oil and chemicals from road runoff reach land he farms and asked the city to address it and to exempt farming and ranching; Hunter suggested a separate code change. Amended subsections 13.94.020, .030, .070, .090 and .100. A corrected version returned June 18, 2025.
- Initiated by city engineering
- Reason: state Division of Water Quality standardization
What residents said
No one spoke at the storm water public hearing. Applicant Jared Huish addressed the commission on the site plan.