Planning Commission Work Session - August 1, 2024

Meeting Summary

The Lehi City Planning Commission held a work session on August 1, 2024, dedicated entirely to discussing potential future amendments to the city's Development Code. No formal votes were taken; the session was intended to give commissioners and staff the opportunity to walk through ideas before any of them return as formal action items. The first topic was a proposed public art requirement. Under the concept staff presented, a designated city employee would assess each new development application and assign it a monetary value. Projects above a set threshold would either need to commission public art equal in value to one percent of the overall development cost, or pay an equivalent contribution into a city public art fund overseen by a municipal public art committee. Commissioners asked questions about how the threshold would be set and how the fund would be administered. The second topic was the city's ongoing affordable housing challenge, examined through the lens of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Staff revisited Lehi's history with ADUs and discussed how to allow more of them while balancing infrastructure capacity and neighborhood compatibility. The Commission also reviewed an option that would allow conversion of existing single-family homes into multi-family units, with examples drawn from Springville that staff said had not produced the density-related impacts residents often fear. Buffering standards between different land uses were the third topic on the agenda. No recommendations were forwarded to the City Council. Staff indicated the items would be refined and returned to the Commission at a future meeting before any code change is formally proposed.