17-7-12.1.1 Purpose.
The Midvale City general plan identifies the Fort Union area and 7200 South corridor between I-15 and State Street as “opportunity areas” of the city. Opportunity areas are defined as those where changes in the types and/or intensities of current land uses are anticipated. Encouraging a mix of residential and commercial uses is important to provide the critical mass necessary to support the existing commercial, attract new, viable businesses to the area and support the growth of the region. This overlay zone implements the goal of supporting and enhancing existing commercial areas by providing standards for the development of medium and high density residential and mixed-use developments within the regional commercial zone. This chapter informs the owners of the standards that will be applied in approving or disapproving proposed developments. A development plan including site layout, parking, landscaping, architecture and relationship to the surrounding commercial development shall be submitted along with a request to apply the residential overlay zone to any parcel within the regional commercial zone.
To utilize the regional commercial residential overlay, it must be demonstrated the proposed development fulfills the following goals:
A. Provides critical mass necessary to help facilitate the transition of regional commercial shopping centers into vibrant mixed-use developments;
B. Creates a consistently high quality urban environment;
C. Enhances the investment of those locating within the regional commercial zone;
D. Promotes economic development by increasing the utilization of existing parcels within current developments;
E. Eliminates large underutilized surface parking areas by utilizing alternate parking methods, including but not limited to structured parking and shared parking;
F. Provides compatibility between residential and commercial uses to create a comfortable environment for both shoppers and residents; and
G. Provides pedestrian connections within and among developments to support pedestrian activity in existing auto-oriented developments and encourages pedestrian movement. (Ord. 2016-07 § 1 (Att. A (part)))