On Thursday, August 20, 2026, the Sandy City Planning Commission met at 6:15 PM in the Sandy City Council Chambers and via Zoom, after a 4:00 PM field trip. The commission considered two related commercial development reviews, a Hagan Road rezone public hearing, and amendments to Title 21 of the Sandy Municipal Code for detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs). All seven voting commissioners were present; alternates Craig Kitterman and Jennifer George were nonvoting.
Pharm 106 Subdivision / Liberty Drug Site Plan: No members of the public commented on either item.
Hagan Road Rezone: Adele Clark (11583 S Hagan Road) opposed the rezone, saying the four lots were intentionally kept R-1-20 to avoid farm animals and that the applicant's sheep have been noisy since March. Debbie Judd (11553 S Hagan Road) opposed the rezone, saying she trusted the current owners but did not want future owners to keep large animals on half-acre lots; she also asked whether her own property was zoned with the A designation. Staff later confirmed that her property is R-1-20A and that an explanatory email had been sent. John Dudash, speaking via Zoom, said he wanted everything to stay the same.
Detached ADU Amendments: Todd Vanderlinden (1875 Alla Panna Way) asked the city to allow conversion of existing legal accessory structures, using his 936 sq ft detached garage with 7-foot setbacks and a 17-foot height as an example. Wendy Davis (9066 S Jason K Circle) supported ADUs and asked the city to make the process easier, provide simple floor plans, and legalize existing illegal ADUs. James Longstaff (10095 S 2285 E) asked the commission to reverse the proposed extra parking requirement near transit and to reduce the minimum lot size, citing Wasatch Advocates for Livable Communities. Diane Nicholson (2026 Ashley Ridge Road) requested a minimum lot size closer to 8,500 sq ft and smaller setbacks to help more residents.
Mike Wilcox introduced the related items; Clayton England of Hyperion Architects presented for the applicant, and Clinton Spencer presented staff findings. The proposed subdivision would create two commercial lots at 1010 E 10600 South, and the site plan would allow a new Liberty Drug building of about 10,200 sq ft with 30 parking spaces and 29% site landscaping. Staff noted a recorded cross-access easement would allow shared parking and access between the two lots, and staff supported allowing parking in front of the building because an existing easement restricts the building location. Commissioner Steven Wrigley asked about the neighboring parking lot and stall count; staff confirmed shared parking and 30 stalls.
The commission voted unanimously to find the preliminary subdivision review substantially complete. Minutes record the basis as four findings and two conditions; the live transcript referenced three conditions. The commission also voted unanimously to find the preliminary site plan review substantially complete, based on four findings and nine conditions.
Matt Grant (11563 S Hagan Road) presented the request to rezone 11562, 11563, and 11586 S Hagan Road from R-1-20 to R-1-20A. He said he and two neighbors applied because most surrounding half-acre-plus properties already have the A designation, and he wants to keep lambs for family food production and recreation. Jake Warner presented staff findings: the four subject properties are R-1-20, properties to the north are generally R-1-20A, properties to the south are R-1-10, and planning commission annexation minutes recommended R-1-20A even though the adopted ordinance states R-1-20. Both zones are consistent with the general plan.
During deliberation, Commissioner Wrigley asked whether the A designation would allow horses; staff said yes, subject to property-size limits, and that the code does not distinguish between large and small animals. Wrigley also asked how many other properties lacked the A designation; staff said only these four in the immediate area. The commission forwarded a positive recommendation to the City Council to approve the zone change; the motion carried unanimously.
Melissa Anderson presented the proposed amendments, which would allow detached ADUs and extended living areas (ELAs) on lots of at least 11,000 sq ft, as required by state law SB 84 effective October 1, 2026. The draft also included definitions, special use permit and business license requirements, owner-occupancy rules, one rentable ADU per lot, parking standards, size limits, height and setback standards, and conversion provisions. Staff maps showed that lowering the minimum lot size from 11,000 to 10,000 sq ft would increase eligible properties from about 21% to 26%, or roughly 4,000 additional homes, while an 8,000 sq ft threshold would add substantially more.
The commission discussed each proposed modification. Dave Bromley supported allowing common-wall, breezeway, or non-habitable connections, arguing that a rigid 20% common-wall mandate would make many attached ADUs financially impossible. Daniel Schoenfeld cautioned that allowing multiple self-contained units could create duplexes or triplexes and erode single-family character. The commission ultimately agreed to allow two self-contained ELAs inside the primary dwelling only when no detached ADU exists, while keeping the one-rental limit. The final motion forwarded a positive recommendation to the City Council with nine modifications: (1) number-permitted standards; (2) corner-lot entrance flexibility; (3) design connection language; (4) lighting typo correction; (5) minimum lot size reduction to 10,000 sq ft with a goal of a smaller size in the future; (6) location flexibility for new subdivisions with five or more lots; (7) future accessory-structure size flexibility for 40,000+ or 60,000+ sq ft lots and A-designated properties; (8) height limits tied to the underlying zone only for lots under 20,000 sq ft; and (9) conversion clarification for one-story existing accessory structures. The motion carried; Commissioner Wrigley recorded his opposition to Modification #3.
The commission unanimously approved the August 6, 2026 meeting minutes. In the Director's Report, staff announced upcoming dates: a joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting on September 15, a regular meeting on September 17, a steering committee meeting on September 3, and the Heritage Festival on September 19. Commissioners also discussed hosting the holiday social at Commissioner Mortimer's home. The meeting adjourned.
Oh I'm sorry. We're ready when you are. We're ready when you are. That's a delay. Those are good. Yes. That's part of the as percent. No, it's not the answer. Okay. We're good. All right. Oh. Recording in progress. Excellent. All right. We're going to go ahead and kick off tonight's planning commission meeting. We welcome you. Um I'm the current chair of the planning commissioner. My name is Lenise Davenport. And I'm joined by my fellow commissioners. Let me first by introducing that are two that are in the audience, Jennifer George and Craig Kitterman. Um then we'll go ahead and have the other commissioners starting with Ron introduce yourself, please. Thank you. Ron Mortimer. Cameron Duncan. Dave Bromley. Uh Danny Schoenfeld. David Hart. Steve Wrigley. Thank you. James, will you introduce the staff, please? Sure. My name is James Swornton. I'm the community development director. We have Darren Alcorn, the senior civil attorney. Mike Wilcox is the planning director. Jake Warner here with us tonight. Clint Spencer, development service manager here with us. Melissa Anderson will be here shortly. She'll do the one little longer presentation tonight on the ADUs. See, Ivan Hooper, transportation engineer, is here with us tonight. And Cash, he's here with us tonight, a planner. The office and Grant Hatcock is here with us tonight, a planner. And the uhisha is here with us tonight. Thank goodness. We'll turn the time back to you. Thanks. Thank you. All right. Before we turn it um over to do the Pledge of Allegiance, I just want to send a remind you of what the planning commission is, what our responsibility is.