OCR Text |
Show T M Tuesday, December 19, 2000 EDITORIAL J " r :. Guest Editorial by Mania Fcltikomp, PA, MSPH, Co-chair of the Program Services Committee Commit-tee for the Utah Chapter of the March of Dimes This holiday season, you can help give a terrific gift. It doesn't cost any money and there's nothing to wrap. It is a gift of knowledge about a problem and, importantly, a relatively simple solution that you can share with women of childbearing years. This knowledge knowl-edge can help increase te odds that a chiid will be born healthy. ; The problem: each year in the United States, about 4,000 preg- .. nancies are affected by neural tube defects (NTDs) which cre ate severe birth defects of the Controversial rezones win city council rn ... Two controversial rezones won approval from the Orem City Council December 12. The Anjeanette rezone changed a six-acre six-acre parcel at 525 South Geneva Road from RE-20 to R-l-5, and the Ivy Hall rezone cleared the way for a new student housing commercial development near the Utah Valley State College campus. Anjeanette applicant Leo Lines submitted two concept plans to the city: one option had 31 lots, and the second had 32 lots with a 14-atre neighborhood park. Minimum Mini-mum lot sizes in the proposed subdivision are 5,000 square feet. The controversial issue before the council on the Anjeanette re-zont re-zont was whether or not to apply the R-l-5 zoning to a parcel as large as six acres, thus setting a precedent. The city's legal staff advised the council that there were no "significant zoning distinctions" dis-tinctions" that would justify treating the Anjeanette property differently from other large parcels par-cels in the city. Linos said he had invested "much time and effort" in his proposed pro-posed development, and was disappointed dis-appointed that the council had not resolved the R-l-5 acreage issue during their November retreat. Lines said he had "come full circle" and "met the concerns of the neighbors", and argued that his proposal fits the intent of the R-l -;" zone. Rut area resident LaDell Gillman, 1435 West 800 South, challenged the idea that the R-l-5, designed to facilitate infill development de-velopment and affordable housing, hous-ing, should be applied to large acreage parcels. "You're taking six acres here and creating a can of worms," he said. Continuing, Gillman said his area was "starting "start-ing to feel impacted" with the recent re-cent approval of the 6,000-student Parkway Crossing residential commercial development plus nearby multi-family, high density housing developments. He said the council should deny the application, appli-cation, keep the zoning R-l-8, and have any development be consistent consis-tent with what exists in the neighborhood. neigh-borhood. Expressing support for Lines' project, real estate agent Denise fofye &n Online Edition: www.oremtimes.com . E-mail: oremtimes(a net world.com USPS411-700 538 South State Street, Orem, Utah 84058 Telephone 225 1340 The Orem-Geneva Times (411-700) is published each Wednesday for $16.00 per year in area, $35.00 per year out of area, and $50 cents per issue by the Orem-Geneva Times, 538 South State Street, Orem, Utah 84058. Periodical Postage paid at Orem, Utah 84059. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Orem-Geneva Times. EO. Box 65, Orem, UT 84059. News deadline, Monday; 12 noon, advertising Monday, 2:00 p.m. The entire contents of this newspaper is Copyright 2000 The Orem-Geneva Times. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the editor or publisher. Publisher - Brent Sumner Commentary. brain and spine, such as Bpina bifida. Those born with 6pina bifida, the most common NTD, have life long physical disabilities. Every woman is at risk for having a child with NTD, whether she has had a healthy baby with the first or subsequent pregnancy. The solution: Over 50 percent of neural tube defects will be prevented pre-vented by taking a multivitamin that contains the B vitamin, folic acid, at least one month before pregnancy, in addition to consuming consum-ing a healthy diet. It's a simple step, which may help prevent the suffering that can result from a child born with a neural tube defect de-fect Food folate (folic acid from food) is found in orange juice, spinach Austin, 1450 West 650 South, said she lives in a cul-de-sac south of the proposed development, and that she doesn't think it will lower her property values "any more than the railroad that's already there." After extended discussion and intense debate, the council vote for a motion to approve came down to a 3-3 vote, with Councilman Council-man Bill Peperone set to cast the deciding vote. He first voted "nay", but after more discussion, City Attorney Paul Johncon advised ad-vised the councilman, that he could change his vote, which Peperone did, after soliciting two verbal commitments from Lines --- that the developer would limit the subdivision to 28 lots, and would incorporate architectural quality into the houses. Joining Peperone in "aye votes were c'ouncilmembers Judy Bell, Stephen Sandstrom, and Les Campbell. Mayor Jerry Washburn and councilmen Mike Thompson and Joseph Andersen voted against approval of the rezone. The Ivy Hall rezone was a proposal pro-posal to apply the student housing hous-ing overlay zone to 4.3 acres of highway services-zoned property at 500 West 1450 South. The Ivy Hall hearing was continued from November 14 to December 12 so the council could look at the recommendations rec-ommendations submitted by the Student Housing Ad Hoc Committee, Com-mittee, but at least one councilmember, Bell, would have preferred more time to examine those suggestions and enact new standards before acting on the Ivy Hall rezone. Applicant David Freeman said he felt the ad hoc committee was "arbitrary" in not considering his project, while they did involve themselves in the Parkway Crossing Cross-ing project. "Now that's coming back to bite us," Freeman said. A written contract with the Boyer Co. has expired, he stated, noting that if the project was not moved forward, "this land will not be student housing -- it will be put to another use." Councilmen Stephen Sandstrom and Mike Thompson said the council should proceed that night in considering the rezone. re-zone. Noting that UVSC could - fcneua mm f 1 Editor - Pat Knoell 'pill me or other green leafy vegetables and legumes. But it is not possible for women to consume the recom- mended 400 micrograms a day from diet alone. (It would take eight glasses of orange juice a day to obtain the recommended amount for prevention.) In 1998, all grains were required to be fortified for-tified with folic acid, but this provides pro-vides only 25 percent of the recommended rec-ommended amount of folic acid. That's why the March of Dimes recommends a daily multivitamin for all women of child bearing years, not just those who plan to become pregnant. When you look at the numbers, the need to take this vitamin supplement all during child bear ing years becomes obvious: Annu eventually have 45,000 students. Thompson said, "We need to plan properly, but prepare for students who are here." While the mixed-use project, with its proposed 110 units of student stu-dent housing and 7,000 square feet of commercial space, was characterized by supporters as a rich resource, like an "oil field", just waiting to be tapped to alleviate alle-viate the student housing shortage, short-age, opponents felt differently. "Would you like this 'oil field' in. your backyard?" asked area resident Val Lindsay. "I don't think you would." He said he couldn't believe the city would not be concerned about "the people who live up over the hill" himself him-self and his neighbors. "What could you propose that would bring more traffic and congestion to the area maybe an amusement amuse-ment park?" Councilman Sandstrom said he understood the concerns involved with the project, but said the "die was cast years ago" when 1300 South became a commercial corridor cor-ridor and UVSC was constructed. He said he did not foresee a road being built through to the upper residential areas, in which case the project would impact them even more, and he noted that more vehicle trips would probably be generated with a strictly commercial com-mercial project. Councilman Joseph Andersen said the area is "overwhelmed" with development, and that he wished there was a way to put a park in. "I think student housing is too much," he continued. "It generates lots of traffic, and parking park-ing is a huge concern. " Councilman Mike Thompson said the council must consider what Andersen has to say, because he lives in that area of town. "People in south Orem feel they have taken the brunt of development," develop-ment," Thompson declared, "but we have to be realistic, too. Should . we put a Parkway Crossing on Heather Road and let the students stu-dents drive all the way down to the college? It's a hard decision." "We're caught between a rock and a hard spot," Mayor Jerry Washburn asserted. "It's a Catch-22 Catch-22 for us." Fax 225-1341 Member ally in Utah County, 9,232 babies are born; 617 babies are bom to teen mothers (ages 15-1S); 250 babies are born to mothers who received late (in the third trimester) trimes-ter) or no prenatal care; 564 babies ba-bies are born with low birth weight (less than 5 V pounds); and unfor-tunately, unfor-tunately, 34 babies die before reaching their first birthday. (SOURCES: 1998 Vital Statistics for Utah; Utah's Vital Statistics; Births and Deaths). That makes over 50 percent of pregnancies unplanned. It is vital that people know this problem exists and that there is a way of combating it. In 1998, only 29 percent of women nationally who were not approval Councilwoman Bell said she wanted to make sure she had the ordinances in place to make the project "right for the future". "I'm left in a quandary...I would like to wait," Bell said. But City Manager Jim Ream3 reminded the council of the density den-sity issue. If the council were to wait and adopt the standard of the student housing ad hoc committee, commit-tee, more housing units could be built later than under the current law. Reams said the staff recommendation recom-mendation was that the council not try to put new standards in that night. If they chose to ap- Student housing committee makes recommendations Orem's Student Housing Ad f Hoc Committee, commissioned by the Orem City Council to " study issues and problems related re-lated to student housing in the community, gave its report in the ' December 5th council meeting, i Richard Johnson, Westmore neighborhood chairman, and Bill Fairbanks, committee member, ! served as spokesmen for the ad hoc committee. Johnson thanked the council for the chance to work together as a panel, an en-, en-, deavor he termed "a great effort I by a lot of people" to make rec-f rec-f ommendations on growth at Utah Valley State College and to meet the challenge of housing students while still preserving neighborhoods. Johnson noted that UVSC's population has grown in five years from 20,000 to 27,000 students. stu-dents. Additional growth over the next ten years is projected to be 10,000-15,000. UVSC is not f planning to build student dorms now or in the future, which leaves the student housing issue to be dealt with by Orem and other Utah County cities. Johnson said Orem's rental codes and laws on accessory apartments also ought to be reviewed, re-viewed, but are large issues to be , undertaken by other commit-tees. commit-tees. The following is a summary of recommendations of the Student Stu-dent Housing Ad Hoc Committee: Commit-tee: The committee was "heavily involved" in the writing of the requirements for the PD-21, or Student Housing Village zone. The zoning regulations were forwarded for-warded to the Orem Planning Commission and Orem City Council and were subsequently adopted. The student housing committee's recommendation is that the Student Housing Village zone and similar zones that may mm pregnant reported taking a daily multivitamin. ' The March of Dimes has taken on the challenges of NTD education educa-tion as part of its mission to improve im-prove the health of babies by preventing pre-venting birth defects and infant mortality. The fight against NTDs is one reason why rnor than 2,500 people in Utah raised nearly $400,000 in the annual Walk America this year. So, if you are a woman of child-bearing child-bearing years and capable of becoming be-coming pregnant, take a multivitamin multivi-tamin with folic acid even if you are not planning a pregnancy. If you know and love someone in that falls into that category, encourage en-courage her to take such a vita Times vAll gme on Tiaoraday yeixf vseefi Because of the Christmas holiday on Monday, the Orem-Geneva Orem-Geneva Tiroes and the Lindon Times will be delivered on Thursday, Dec. 28, instead of Wednesday, Dec: 27, next week. Deadline for submitting material for next week's paper will be Tuesday, Dec. 26 at noon. "We hope this delay will not cause any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding in allowing the owners and staff of the paper to spend this holiday at home. prove the rezone, the developers could submit a site plan under the new or the old standards. Sandstrom made the motion to approve the student housing over be developed be used as the "primary "pri-mary means" for providing student stu-dent housing in Orem. The committee gave an extensive ex-tensive list of proposed amendments amend-ments to the Student Housing Overlay Code. These included a plan to add wording to the purpose pur-pose statement which would provide pro-vide a new emphasis on preserving preserv-ing residential housing zones. Other changes included increasing increas-ing maximum density from 26 to 40 units per acre; increasing the parking requirement from 1.5 to 1.75 spaces per bedroom; and requiring re-quiring buffering between student stu-dent housing and existing residential resi-dential neighborhoods. Also recommended rec-ommended were landscaping requirement re-quirement changes, increased setbacks, additional recreational social amenities, and provision of shuttle transportation to UVSC. The committee report stated that the student housing overlay over-lay should be considered "a secondary sec-ondary means of providing student stu-dent housing." . Sites recommended for the city's consideration as potential future student housing were highlighted on a map. At build-out, build-out, the potential 93.25 acres could provide housing for about 10,000 students. Adding in the recently-approved PD-21 Parkway Park-way Crossing project and its possible pos-sible 6,000 residents, the committee com-mittee report concluded that "the development of these sites should more than satisfy the current cur-rent and projected demand for student housing in Orem." Criteria for possible student housing sites were: close proximity proxim-ity to the UVSC campus; minimal mini-mal impact to existing residential residen-tial neighborhoods; undeveloped status (or potential redevelopment redevelop-ment status); and location on or near collector or arterial streets. Traffic and transportation impacts must be factored into Submit a Guest Editorial cr Opinion at our office, located at 538 South Stcte in Orem. Deadlines are Monday noon. All submissions are subject to editing for length, and the Orem-Geneva Times reserves the right to publish or no! to publish a submission. min. If you are aliealth care provider, pro-vider, health education specialist special-ist or other professional who works, with women of childbear- ing age,' please explain the benefits ben-efits of folic acid in the course of discussing other health-related topics with patients. s The March of Dimes is trying to share this lifesaying message with every woman in Utah: Folic acid saves babies lives. It's a message worth spreading. spread-ing. For more information and literature lit-erature about preventing neural tube defects, contact the March of Dimes at 877-881-9255 or visit the March of Dime web site at 3yww.niodimes.org. lay application. Vote was 4-2, with Bell and Andersen voting "nay". Councilman Bill Peperone had left the meeting. planning of all student housing projects: Requirement of 100 neighborhood consent before the redevelopment of a neighborhood neighbor-hood to student housing projects Councilman Mike Thompson asked if there had been any discussion dis-cussion on having student housing hous-ing complexes where cars are not allowed. Fairbanks said there had been such discussions, but that the requirement would not work. "Cars would be 'stashed everywhere'," every-where'," he said. Mayor Jerry Washburn said one issue to consider is the impact im-pact of student housing development develop-ment on surrounding roads, with particular concerns about Sandhill San-dhill Road and existing housing. He asked Johnson and Fairbanks if the committee had any suggestions sugges-tions on solving transportation problems. Johnson reiterated committee commit-tee recommendations to require traffic studies and the provision of shuttles by developers. Councilman Joseph Andersen said he had been afraid that the committee would be composed solely of developers and residents resi-dents and that student representation represen-tation would be neglected. Instead, In-stead, he said, the opposite had occurred. Johnson confirmed that student input on the committee com-mittee had been "terrific". As discussion concluded, Mayor Washburn read a letter from Councilwoman Judy Bell commending the committee for its work, and added, "There was and is a huge need for what you committee members were called to do." A motion to accept the committee's report was made by Councilman Les Campbell, and the counci! vote was 4-0 in favor of the motion. FpOOR C |