Smithfield council rezones ag land west of town to residential

By Di Lewis

January 27, 2006 | SMITHFIELD -- Housing for low- and moderate-income families will not be an option, said the Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation, after the City Council unanimously approved a resolution to rezone agricultural to residential land Wednesday night.

The NNHC wanted to combine with Mickelson Development to create an 80-home subdivision on land that extends from 800 West to 500 West and from Saddleback Road to 100 North.

Mayor Chad Downs opened the meeting for a public hearing and residents of Smithfield took turns expressing their opinions on the proposed rezoning.

"We have all these questions about Smithfield population growth, about when we should allow it and where. But my question is: if not now, when? And if not here, where?" said Councilman Dennis Watkins. "I think this is the time and the place."

The land that was being rezoned was mostly agricultural land that was still viable, said Jeff Barnes from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Barnes said 86 percent of Smithfield residents believe open space and farmland is important to their community and that the wishes of citizens should not be taken lightly.

Lamont Poulsen, of Poulsen Livestock and one of the owners of the property adjacent to the rezoning, said it is necessary to have a buffer zone between agricultural and residential zones, because history has shown that even if they promise not to, residents next to agricultural areas will complain about the "cattle, flies, smells, and lights" associated with farming and that it just doesn't mix with high density residential areas.

Kim Datwyler, spokeswoman for the NNHC, says there will be a buffer zone between the areas and that residents will know they are buying next to the "sight, sounds, and smells" that come with agricultural areas. The main concerns, Datwyler said, are that there is no affordable housing in Smithfield, especially for young, very low income families, and rights of property owners to sell their land are being infringed upon.

"The cheapest lot in Smithfield right now is $48,000," said Councilman Brent Buttars. "They offer it at $30,000-$38,000 a lot. A lot of these families are from this area -- they're our kids. If we don't rezone now, we will be forced to accept it later."

One of the owners trying to sell property, Mark Robinson, said, "I have lost my animal rights and I can't grow anything in this weedy, rocky orchard. Why won't the council let us sell our property when we are all working together? What are my rights as a property owner? What do I do? How do I develop my property?"

Councilwoman Kriss Monson continued to oppose the proposal, saying it is important to control the rate of Smithfield population growth. Monson proposed an amendment that would rezone three-fourths of the requested land.

The amended proposal passed unanimously. "This is just a win-win situation," Monson said. "We have a buffer zone for the agriculture and plenty of room for continued growth.

However, Datwyler said this will not provide the low income housing that the NNHC was hoping for and insists is greatly needed.

"By not rezoning that one-fourth of the land, they took 21 of our 42 lots," Datwyler said. "We appreciate their intent, but I don't think the council fully understood the implications of approving the amendment. We'll have to look at the numbers and see if it is still financially feasible. We certainly won't be able to offer the lots at the price we wanted to."

"It was a sneaky thing to do," said Kevin Allen, the representative for Mickelson Development.

In other business, the council listened to James Marshall, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, as he gave a brief summary of future growth in Smithfield. Marshall said population growth rate has gone from 3 to 5 percent in the last five years and the population is expected to grow from 9,000 to 16,000 residents in 13 years.

The main concern, Marshall said, is whether Smithfield infrastructure is equipped to keep up with the current growth rate. He said that unless growth is restrained, "schools and emergency services could become overstressed.

"I don't want to oppose growth. I just want to do it at a rate that does not overtax our infrastructure," Marshall said.

The council also unanimously approved Justin Bennett's request for a two-lot minor subdivision and watched a summary presentation on the fire that occurred at the pallet company last November.

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