North Village Overlay Zone (NVOZ)- Heber City

When Heber City Council passed the NVOZ on March 6, 2021 by a vote of 3-2  (#5 on agenda- yeas Mike Johnston, Wayne Hardman, Ryan Stack- NAYs Heidi Franco, Rachel Kahler lost her internet and did not vote) the deciding vote was Ryan Stack. He declared in the 12-9-2020 meeting before the vote, (at 20:00 into recording) that it didn’t matter that the NVOZ would be passed because the council would not approve an annexation, let alone a Development Agreement, before the Storm Water Plan for the NVOZ was completed first. The annexations would not be approved without the developers complying with the city’s storm water plan.

That is not what happened……  The Highlands Development Annexation AND Development Agreement was approved on 12-9-2021  (#11 on meeting agenda)  with density approvals! How can you honor densities when it is not clear how much water the developer has, or what storm water plan will be approved for the development, and the NVOZ as a whole?

Here’s the January 18th 2022 City Council meeting where this all was discussed. (#5 on the agenda, click on item below video) For an hour the developers spent way too much time explaining what their wishes were for their property. Without water shares declared, or a viable storm water plan in place, this info was premature. (At 4:05:00 the Wasatch County representatives explained the reality of the area and it’s concerns with the proposed development area in general and is a must listen)

Bottom line, the storm water plan was discussed by the City Engineer in this meeting, and said it could be another 5-6 months before it MAY be done. This is impoertant to ensure water quality to down stream users, and the Provo River. (Scroll down this page to the CUP map to read more about storm water concerns)

Heber City promised the citizens how this process would go last year, and this Highland annexation process was not handled as promised. It also violated the MOU signed with the County Council, that required Heber City to get Wasatch County  approval IF the city changes any of the MOU terms. The Wasatch County Council felt it necessary to unanimously pass an Amendment to the MOU – MOU- Amend 2022  after a  crucial 1-11-2022 NVSSD meeting (7:40 into recording, Heber City council people Ryan Stack and Rachel Kahler sit on this board) where the director explained to the SSD Board that the Highlands Development does NOT have enough water to build what the Heber City Council just GRANTED the development. 

Heber City passed an MOU with Wasatch County in 2019 to honor the densities that Wasatch County already approved, and for Heber City not give more density in the future.  Heber City Expansion Area MOU 2019.  There have been many discussions between Wasatch County and Heber City about the MOU involving Heber’s future annexation plans. (To give Wasatch County a comfort level on Heber annexing their special service districts) Check out some of them here:     Wasatch Taxpayers Youtube page

The Heber City Council is NOT following the very procedure that they promised the citizens!

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DOES THIS PICTURE GRAB YOUR ATTENTION?  Scroll down this whole page for the full story. First, are the 2 development annexation PUBLIC HEARINGS coming up,  and…  

UPDATE!! New agenda item just added to remove the RESORT and HEINER Properties from Heber’s annexation map.  December 1, 2020 6pm- Heber City Council meeting (this link will have info to join meeting on the DAY OF the meeting)

CALL TO ACTION! Email City Council with input before the meeting here: CCPublic@heberut.gov (Please start by identifying which issue you are commenting on, AND keep all emailed public comments to 500 words or less. Comments exceeding this limit will not be read into the public record.)

 

(Click pictures to enlarge)

UPDATE!! Agenda item #6 added to Dec 1st meeting-  on RESORT and HEINER Property removal from Annexation Policy Plan Map  Many citizen concerns have been raised about the density, the eyesore coming into the valley, and the storm drain water runoff into the North Fields, and they were precisely because of these two developments DIRECTLY effecting Rock Creek and the Provo River. Please email council to protect and preserve the water quality in the are Read below…

 

 

 

Do we need more high density commercial on the WEST side of Highway 40, where sensitive wetlands, habitat, and the vulnerable water shed for down valley users are in jeopardy? Heber City is considering a ton of developments in the NEW North Village area that they wanted in their city limits.  Heber City had not discussed how storm drain water would be handled and thought it would flow to the West of Highway 40, into the North Fields and eventually into the Provo River.

Now the North Fields Irrigation Company has said that they will not allow ANY runoff water to enter their system-  North Fields Irrigation letter- storm drain 8-20-20.  Heber City Council Sept 15th meeting in agenda item-  Communications #2 : Heber City Council discussion on this letter.(Originally, staff did not give the City Council this letter for a few weeks.) Heber Council memo of North Fields Irrigation letter concerns 9-15-20    **Mark Wilson, President of the North Fields Irrigation spoke at (5:35:00) into recording about how they tried to work with developer of the Crossings but could not come to an agreement, and felt they were not being represented correctly in previous council meetings, so they came to set the record straight. The Wasatch County Council also sent a letter to the Heber City Council- Wasatch Co- Storm Drain letter 11-30-20    Wasatch Co. Watershed Inventory 2019

The Central Utah Project (CUP) is also concerned about the impacts to their system, and have said they will not currently sign off on any storm drain runoff from Heber City. 

The Deer Creek Reservoir also has had algea blooms this summer.  KPCW REPORT.  The health of our iconic North and South Fields, Provo River and Deer Creek Reservoir is at stake.  Read more on algae blooms here. 

The Heber aquifer is currently considered PRISTINE also, and could be affected by contaminants seeping into this system. Here are some storm water concerns being shared with the city to alert them of the impacts. 

 **** Heber City should adopt these standards for the FULL NVOZ – MS4- Utah Retention standard for development

2 Developments for Public Hearing

(Click pictures to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

1)- Highlands development – Go to (2:32:40 into recording) of the Oct 20th meeting to watch the Highlands presentation and you will see full scope and renderings of their proposal.  The Highlands Development on the east side of highway 40, between Wasatch Commons and the UVU Wasatch Campus has grown from 393 ERU’s on 113 acres approved by Wasatch County Council in 2015, to 1,469 total units on 142.88 acres. Including a 12 plex with 72 units, 48 plex with 384 units, 64 plex with 256 units, 5 story commercial residential and retail building, 4 story with 147 affordable student housing/employee housing units and commercial retail, hotel and some townhomes and single family homes. Developer is also including a public amphitheater, trails, and open space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) -North Village Crossings- They first came to the City Council on July 7, 2020 to show their RESORT property on the iconic SW corner of Highway 40 and 32 (River Road) for annexation. Now they’re coming back for another try! (pictured below)

 

 

 

On July 7, 2020, the 5 member Heber City Council (4 against- Heidi Franco, Wayne Hardman, Rachel Kahler, Ryan Stack—– 1 for- Mike Johnston) told this developer they were not interested in this Crossings RESORT SW corner getting developed and that he should go back to the County to negotiate with them. At that time, the Council was considering amending the annexation policy map, but was stopped by the Mayor before a motion by council could be made.  ***Must watch discussion-Heber City meeting video- go to agenda item #7 An adjacent landowner threatened lawsuit if passed (3:48:40 into recording), Ryan Stack commented on why he’s not interested (4:09:00), and since 4 council people were against this annexation, Rachel Kahler attempted to make motion to amend the annexation map to remove this SW corner RESORT area and was stopped by Mayor Potter (4:12:10). Mayor Potter does not have the authority to stop a council person from making a motion, but then the Mayor said that the annexation application is over since they said they’re not interested.  Now it’s back and they are going to have PUBLIC HEARING ON DEC 1ST!   Heber- Crossings annexation denial- 7-7-20 Approved Minutes     KPCW REPORT.  

The Heber Council meeting recording of the ORIGINAL North Village Crossings annexation application on 4-7-20 will give you the basic knowledge of the development.    Heber City meeting audio and agenda. (Click on agenda item under audio to prompt to discussion #2)   Heber Council- 4.7.2020 Approved Minutes    N. Village annexation staff report 4-7-2020 

The Wasatch County Council had this 2015 development agreement, but there were a few conditions that would have had to be met by developer(s).  OLD N. Village dev agreement Wasatch Co    Wasatch County granted a conditional master plan and density determination.  The development agreement has a number of conditions that must be complied with.  These conditions will be expensive for the developer but were a required trade-off for the high density approved.  They included: underground parking for 1,066 stalls to enhance pedestrian and village feel, restrictions in the CC&R’s so dwellings are maintained as second homes so that taxes are assed at 100% of value, 8’ asphalt trail around the perimeter of the development with approval of phase 1 commercial pads which includes all landscaping along River Road and Highway 40, Indoor water park, members lodge and village plaza with roughly 65,000 square feet including restaurants and movie theaters, no apartments are allowed only ownership units, requirement to comply with materials and renderings approved at master plan, etc.

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**** AND IF THAT’S NOT ENOUGH…… HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS ON THE SAME AGENDA- THE NORTH VILLAGE OVERLAY ZONE possible approval. Wasatch County (North Village SSD) approved certain densities 15-20 years ago, and Heber City agreed to honor those densities moving forward, but are they?? 

CALL TO ACTION! Email City Council with input before the meeting here: CCPublic@heberut.gov (Please start by identifying which issue you are commenting on, AND keep all emailed public comments to 500 words or less. Comments exceeding this limit will not be read into the public record.)

****Here is the latest complete draft of the North Village Overlay Zone-  NVOZ- Draft update -11-05-20     NVOZ-Staff PPT-11-17-20     NVOZ-Staff report-11-17-20 

Here’s what the EAST side of Highway 40 COULD look like, if the Heber City Council approves the current proposal for the NVOZ. The Highlands is only ONE of the many developments, and here are some renderings of their development.  (Click pictures to enlarge)

 

*** Heber City passed an MOU with Wasatch County in 2019 to honor the densities that Wasatch County already approved, and for Heber City not give more density in the future. Wasatch Co- Heber City MOU annexations. (See section 5- Responsibilities of  Heber City)  There have been many discussions between Wasatch County and Heber City about the MOU involving Heber’s future annexation plans. (To give Wasatch County a comfort level on Heber annexing their special service districts) Check out some of them here:     Wasatch Taxpayers Youtube page      

In this agreement: “3. Vested Rights/Density: City agrees that projects vested by the County shall maintain those vested rights and shall include the conditions and development agreements approved by the County. City agrees there will not be a substantial change in planned densities. In the event of changes, the City will require mitigation of those impacts through Annexation and/or
Development Agreement with the property owner.” 

This document shows the current status of the vested rights that Wasatch County had given to these developments –  Current North Village Dev Status- Wasatch County 2020   

For example- see code to the left (click to enlarge): The big issue being that Heber City is changing the ERU DEFINITION to allow more square footage and bathrooms. That is one way of increasing density without increasing the density numbers. In the case of a student apartment .25 of an ERU for an apartment that will have impacts on roads because students here will have to have cars and impacts on water and sewer. The SSD should review this. The added density by changing what an ERU is violates the agreement with the county.

Heber City is also considering an impact fee (approximately $2,000) to go for the preservation of the North Fields that would occur at the time of BUILDING PERMITS (so developers are not paying this, but home buyers- at the time of home sale, or when buyers pay for new construction building permits) But the developer would reap the benefits of these impact fees by getting a possible 25% INCREASE IN DENSITY early on, at the time of development approval. This directly violates the MOU agreement made between Wasatch County and Heber City, to honor the base densities that the county had approved and to not increase them. When you think about it, the zoning in the North Fields is one home per 20 acres. Is it worth not building one home, just to increase an already dense development on the hillside by another 25%??  The citizens have overwhelmingly said that they would like to preserve the North Fields, but is this the best way to do it- by increasing traffic, impacting air quality, and causing more storm drain water to flow towards the Provo River? 

The citizens of  Heber Valley have been very vocal, during the Envision 2050 General Plan process last year Envision 2050-HeberCityGeneralPlan, about their concerns with high density developments and keeping the rural feeling of our valley.  Numerous public hearings and surveys were conducted. Here are two surveys that show the public’s priorities when it comes to open space, high density development and the North Fields. See here:  Envision 2050 North Fields survey  Envision 2050 Open Space survey  Even 10 years ago it was obvious- North Fields- Heber 2010 survey comments 

Excerpts from the Envision 2050 General Plan: 

Open Space & Rural Character
Heber City draws a clear distinction between what is city and what is country, maintaining a distinct city that is surrounded by open land, valuable for its beauty, ecology and agricultural function.

Principles:
1. Heber actively works with neighboring communities and Wasatch County on strategies to implement the permanent protection of farmlands, natural open spaces, and rural character, to keep the distinct separation between communities.

2. Heber City will work with the County and surrounding communities to create permanent farm and mountain land protection through such mechanisms as conservation easements and partnerships.

3. Heber actively clusters development to focus growth and protect remaining open land from dispersed development.

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