The Santaquin City Council approved three ordinances related to city code land use definitions in the Main Street business district zone and defining agritourism during a special meeting held Aug. 9.

The council previously proposed an ordinance to update and clarify the city code’s land use definitions, but it was not approved. After a public discussion, council members determined there were too many unanswered questions about the ordinance, so they decided the issue needed a workshop session and an automotive portion needed to be sent back to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

According to Assistant City Manager Jason Bond, the first ordinance provided clarifications and additions to the land use definitions and table for the Main Street business zone.

“There was a lot of updating and clarifying things to help zoning work better for the general public and the staff in the Community Development Department,” Bond said. “There was a lot of discrepancies and lack of clarification that we’ve addressed in this ordinance.”

Mayor Dan Olson asked Bond if the new ordinance would have to be revisited and clarified more often.

“Zoning ordinances are never perfect,” replied Bond. “It’s a fluid document. As times and priorities change, there are always things that needs to be done. This was a comprehensive update. For instance, we had terms in there like ‘governmental offices’ and we didn’t even have a definition of governmental offices. So really, I think what most people would think of a governmental office was under a different definition.

“A lot of this is probably more technicalities and legalities that we wanted to make sure our code was a little bit more sound in its implementation. This wasn’t trying to get too crazy with changing language, it was just doing the bare minimum so that things were clarified and clearly understood of what land uses were and whether or not they were allowed or not.”

The second ordinance modified the land use definitions related to automotive services and to permit automotive repair services and car wash services in the Main Street commercial district.

During the July 5 meeting, many business owners and residents attended to express their dislike for the original ordinance document. The Daily Herald previously reported the automotive service and repair establishments were separated in major and minor categories based on differences in services offered. The attending members of the public told the council separating businesses into major and minor categories would hurt business.

The new ordinance does not have the major and minor distinctions.

“We adjusted some definitions as directed by the council,” Bond said. “Instead of having a major and minor automotive repair and services, we decided to consolidate that, so we only have one definition for automotive services and repair. In addition, we have a definition for car wash services, but calling it automotive car wash services helped because it puts the definitions next to each other because our definitions are labeled alphabetically. It just makes it a little easier to reference and find for people who are interested in applying that land use.”

The third ordinance allows agritourism activities to be used within all zones temporarily under specific guidelines. Bond said the city’s definition of agritourism was tailored to meet the needs of Santaquin.

According to the ordinance document, agritourism is defined as, “The practice of touring agricultural areas to view and participate in agricultural related activities for recreational entertainment or education purposes. Activities for visitors to enjoy in a commercial or non-commercial way shall be secondary to and supportive of the agricultural use of the property without taking away from the distinct farming purpose and character of the area. Such activities may include receptions, photography, markets, you pick festivals, and farming demonstrations.”

Under the new definition, Bond said many temporary uses now fall under agritourism.

“In the temporary use section of our code where things like snow shacks and other temporary uses are allowed, we had a temporary use that was (for a) farmers market,” he said. “I think farmers market described in this new definition would just be one aspect of what agritourism is. Instead of having farmers market being a temporary business, we decided to change that to agritourism to encompass that and a number of other activities.”

Since agritourism was permitted to occur in every city zone, the city came up with location requirements. Agritourism is allowed on properties 5 acres or larger. Bond said they must be properly licensed according to the acreage. He gave an example that a 30-acre parcel could have six temporary businesses on the property within a calendar year.

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