North Logan planning commission tables Ashbourne city‑center rezone after residents raise parking, transition and open‑space concerns

The North Logan City Planning Commission on a voice vote tabled a proposed rezoning and master development plan for the Ashbourne Mixed‑Use City Center after residents and commissioners raised concerns about parking, the scale and transition to existing neighborhoods, and usable open space.

Scott, a city staff member, walked commissioners through the item’s long history and the technical details behind the request, saying the application would change the subject parcel’s zoning from single‑family residential to City Center Mixed Use with an East Side Transition designation. He said the site plan covers roughly 9.9 acres, includes a mix of yard buildings, three‑story row buildings, live‑work units and a commercial building, and that several technical items remain outstanding, including a traffic impact study the Development Review Committee must review. “Parking is tricky,” Scott said, noting his independent calculation showed the development would need about 435 spaces and the plan shows 450, with a proposed 19‑stall lot the applicant offered as off‑street relief.

The applicant, Jake Thompson, told the commission he is local and that the project aims to address housing demand while working with staff to respond to neighborhood concerns. “There is a need for housing,” Jake Thompson said, adding he and his team are open to discussing parking and other adjustments.

More than a dozen residents testified during the public‑comment period, urging the commission to slow the process or require changes. Tim Tolbert said the application lacked rear façade details and a view‑shed analysis and called the central park a stormwater basin, recommending the commission table the item until those deficiencies are corrected. “When I’m in my backyard working in my orchard… all I see is 5‑story buildings,” Tolbert said. Other neighbors echoed worries about traffic during school sessions, insufficient snow storage and an abrupt scale change from the canal’s single‑family homes to three‑story townhomes.

Commissioners and staff addressed several of those points in their discussion. Scott confirmed water and sewer upgrades would be required if the project advances (an 8‑inch sewer and 8‑inch water line and a pressure‑reducing valve along 2200 North) and described an owner‑occupancy deed restriction the city is pursuing for city‑center projects: initial owners would have to occupy units for two years before converting them to rentals, and the restriction would reattach to subsequent buyers. He said the city is considering enforcement options that could include a professionally managed HOA supplemented by monitoring from BRAG (the housing authority) and municipal enforcement tools such as liens and fines.

Several commissioners praised the applicant’s engagement with staff but said the plan needs changes before a legislative approval. Commissioners suggested reduced density, larger or more usable open space, clearer architectural renderings for the yard homes and a technical review of parking and the traffic study (including school‑session traffic). One commissioner moved to table and instructed staff to work with the developer on parking counts, density, open space, architectural variation and renderings; a colleague seconded the motion, which carried on a voice vote.

Next steps: the commission directed staff to review the outstanding traffic impact analysis and continue working with the applicant on the conditions identified; the item may return to the commission at a future meeting for further public hearing and deliberation.