Community development director Tony Kohler said creating the Central Heber Overlay Zone, or CHOZ, has been in the works since 2021, when the city adopted a new general plan.
The goal of the proposed zone is to promote a more vibrant downtown by making it easier for property owners to create infill density and allowing more types of mixed-use development.
City Manager Matt Brower told the council there’s growing interest from state leaders in Heber’s approach to reimagining downtown.
“The Utah League of Cities and Towns has been tracking your progress,” he said. “A copy of the CHOZ ordinance has also been shared with the state housing subcommittee and the state housing czar – they are tracking what you’re doing.”
The city’s exact plans remain in flux: Kohler said leaders have changed the proposal quite a bit over the past four years.
“Just to provide some 30,000-foot view of what happened, CHOZ has become more of an infill strategy that is created to allow a lot of the historic homes to be retained and infill some of the vacant, larger areas in the back or to the side of houses,” he said.
He says the new strategy will allow “the fabric of our downtown” to remain.
Heber City councilmembers discussed the latest draft of the proposed zoning changes at their meeting Aug. 19 – and they had a lot of questions.
Councilmember Yvonne Barney expressed concerns about the transition between commercial and residential areas, especially regarding building heights.
“Do we want it to really start being high or are we looking now more for residential and then maybe more of an organic change… similar to what we see in the Sugar House area?” she asked. “They use older homes, older properties, and they become businesses, and that’s where the transition starts.”
For infill housing, such as accessory dwelling units built on the same lot as an existing home, the city is considering whether to allow only long-term rentals. Mayor Heidi Franco asked how the city would enforce such restrictions.
“If the city says you’ve got to have a minimum one-year lease period in your apartments or your houses in this area, and somebody doesn’t do it, what’s the penalty?” she asked. “This is going to cause you a lot more paperwork.”
She also asked whether the plans could require more green space downtown.
Councilmember Aaron Cheatwood commented that maybe parks are worth making a city priority for 2026.
“I think we are underdoing the park policy in the city right now,” he said. “I think we do need to think about purchasing smaller lots to turn into pocket parks.”
Councilmember Mike Johnston, meanwhile, shared his feedback about the types of development that best match Heber’s downtown.
He said he’d prefer townhomes or mansion-style apartments – which look like a large, single-family home – to duplexes.
“When I see duplexes and twin homes, I see sprawl – a suburban type of home with two big garages,” he said. “And that really is not Old Town; it’s not historic.”
The city’s planning staff will use the council’s comments to revise the zone proposal. Leaders will discuss it again at a future meeting.
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