MAPLETON — Mapleton officials are toying with a "village" development concept along U.S. 89 to avoid developing strip commercial areas.
To that end, the City Council may change its general commercial zoning ordinance to mix residential with commercial, which could result in first-level stores with residential living on top, City Planner Mathew Evans said.
The ordinance revamp will likely include design criteria to control the look of buildings as the highway develops.
With apartments over stores, it will also give the area a nighttime presence.
The council delayed taking action until architects reviewed the concept, Evans said.
Evans envisioned major intersections along U.S. 89 developing into small commercial-residential villages under the zone change, while giving the road between the intersections a boulevard appearance.
The highway has few commercial buildings now, but the Planning Commission wants the city to have more say in the architecture of future commercial structures on the highway, Evans said.
Additionally some uses may be eliminated from the zone, including manufacturing and autobody repair shops, "anything that could cause visual blight," he said.
Strict criteria would come into play to develop commercial-residential structures and they would require a conditional-use permit, Planning Commission chairman Mike Cobia said.
For example, the buildings wouldn't be allowed to have flat, commercial-style roofs.
The kind of businesses that would go in would likely be convenient stores and medical offices, Cobia said. Mapleton doesn't have the population to support major stores.
"This is (to encourage) the better use of commercial space," he said.
Other Utah County areas that put residential living atop stores include the Shops at Riverwoods in Provo and historic Main Street in Payson.
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