Last night the City Council voted unanimously to deny the application by Ron Martinez of America West for approval of the project master plan of "Park Place".  The plan as presented at the meeting showed the project having 7 buildings with 24 apartment units each for a total number of 168 units.  However the Mayor pointed out that proposed plan was ambiguous enough to possibly allow for well over 300 units.  The development also called for a 10,000 sq. ft. restaurant and office space in a two level building and another building with a credit union.  A club house with pool, hot tub, and play ground were specified as community amenities.

Ron Martinez explained that America West would not ultimately be the builders.  America West has letters of intent from large apartment management companies who will ultimately build the apartments.  The banks and restaurant/office will be built by their respective owners.  The whole development would be a $25 million investment for all involved.  The rest of his 148 acres up the tracks would be roughly a $150 million investment.

A dozen or so Farmington residents spoke against the proposal with Ron Martinez,  two individuals of his team, and a SLC developer speaking for it.  Unexpectedly (at least from a residents perspective) was that the real fireworks was between the Mayor/City Council and the developer and his team.  The developer had taken real issue to the the City's TOD (transit oriented development) zoning ordinance.  To the developer the ordinance was much too ambiguous leaving them frustrated at delays by City staff and "subjectivity" imposed by the Planning Commission and the City Council.  The City fired back by pointing out equal ambiguity in the developer's project master plan.

This was a small battle won by those who oppose dense housing in Farmington.  However this parcel will be developed and the City does seem to be sympathetic to building some level of high density housing (non single family units) there.  They just didn't like America West's current proposal.

Up next in the shaping of the look and feel of west Farmington is the battle for changes in the TOD zoning ordinance text.  The planning commission will hold a special meeting with a public hearing on August 7th at 7:00PM to discuss the text changes of the TOD zoning ordinance.

The TOD zoning ordinance text is absolutely critical to get right as developers internalize this law when planning their development projects. The City is legally bound to approve development plans that comply with the zoning ordinance. This is why the City Council and Planning Commission are scrambling to get new TOD zoning text approved.