A new zoning ordinance passed on Oct. 7 will require parking spots for most home constructions in Midvale.

Any new developments allowed up to 12 units per acre and 25 units per acre will now require two off-street parking stalls per resident and 0.5 guest parking spots per unit. And a resident’s driveway cannot be counted as a guest parking space, according to a staff report authored by Elizabeth Arnold, Midvale’s senior planner.

Before the new ordinance, the city’s Planning Commission had to decide the number of parking spaces required on a case-by-case basis for medium- and high-density developments in its master plan, said Wendelin Knobloch, Midvale’s planning director, when presenting the ordinance to the council.

“It aligns with the multifamily development standards like we have on the books right now,” Knobloch said. “So there's no guessing what might the planning commission approve. It just follows the normal standard.”

The zoning law passed on a 4-0 vote with Councilmember Bonnie Billings absent.

Councilmember Bryant Brown said that parking is “one of the most hot-button issues” the council deals with, and that the planning commission “probably took a lot of bullets, so to speak,” during the meetings when it had to determine the number of parking spots required for a development.

“I want to make sure that parking's taken care of,” Brown said. “I think from a practical standpoint, this is way better for…the Planning Commission to not have to hear arguments [and] litigate.”

Mayor Dustin Gettel added that he hopes the new requirement will make the Planning Commission's “jobs and lives much easier.”

The parking requirement will also be applied to single-family homes. However, Brown said there isn’t much acreage left for standalone units, so the ordinance will likely only impact medium- to high-density neighborhoods. 

Councilmember Paul Glover said he is always in favor of more parking.

“We've had so many disasters with these high-density stuff and not enough parking.…Every single one I've seen, we end up having problems,” Glover said.

Knobloch said that the Planning Commission shares Glover’s sentiment. The commission, however, found that some of its ideas to increase the parking count were hampered by some state laws.

“An idea of [not counting] the spots within the parking garage because many people have things in their garage, which means the cars get parked on the driveway or on the street,” Knobloch said. “Well, that's been preempted…by the legislature. We simply can't do that.”

Before the vote, the ordinance proposal was open for public comment, and Midvale resident Luke Maynes shared a dissenting opinion.

“I know a lot of people feel like as much parking as possible is the best, but the more parking that you build around things, the less walkable they become and the more need for cars there is,” Manyes said. “And the more need for cars means there's more need for parking. And so it's kind of a cyclical thing.”

The new parking standards would have been mandated for every development of one or more acres. However, the ordinance also amended the code so that the standards only kick in if a development proposal includes a common, open space, Knobloch said.

"And this improved common open space...would be the private park that has a pavilion in it, a playground, things along those lines," he added.

Developments in this context will require at least 25% of the land to be reserved for open space, Knoblach said.