Francis’s council approved the Best Western 4-1, after two hours of public comment against it March 13. The hotel will be constructed on the northwest corner of state Route 32 and Lambert Lane.
“I do want to thank y'all,” Councilmember Shana Fryer told meeting attendees. “We really have a tough job tonight, so I just don't — I don't want the city to get sued. I think we're going to get sued one way or the other, so we just better pick who's going to sue us, you know?”
Residents threatened legal action at the meeting, and city attorney Jayme Blakesley implied the developer would win a lawsuit against the city if the council denied the hotel.
“[State law] tilts the direction of private property rights in Utah over the right of the city to regulate,” the city attorney said. “Conditional uses are a little bit unique. Sometimes, when we hear ‘conditional’ in normal language, we think, ‘Well, it's only allowed if we want it to be allowed.’ And then the assumption is, ‘Well, if we're loud enough that we don't want it, then the city council will have to say no, because democracy is: if more people don't want it than want it, then they would have to disallow it.’ Unfortunately, state law is not written that way.”
A “conditional” use permit only gives city officials the ability to require conditions to mitigate public concerns. Former Francis Mayor Byron Ames said during public comment it’s Utah’s way of achieving a “compromise.”
Francis has set 14 total conditions for Best Western builder Harwood Development, such as fencing to block headlights and trees to block noise.
Councilmembers said they couldn’t mitigate the fact that almost no one in the room wanted the hotel. About 35 people showed up early Thursday afternoon to protest in the freezing snow.
Crime has been a top concern among residents who held up “do not disturb Francis” signs as city officials and developer employees arrived for the meeting.
Francis resident Amy Henderson said many of the neighbors came out after she and others distributed hotel-style “do not disturb” door hangers.
“We want to make sure that not only is crime, potential crime threats are avoided, we want to make sure that the obstruction of privacy is avoided,” she told KPCW.
Lindsay Hancock has been another vocal resident organizing against the Best Western and a second hotel proposal.
“We can enforce our public elected officials to obey the codes and enforce the codes,” she said.
Residents argue city code says 24-hour businesses should be “away from” residences. City leaders met with the Utah Property Rights Ombudsman.
The ombudsman issues legal opinions as a means of resolving land use disputes statewide, although the opinions aren’t legally binding. According to Blakesley, the ombudsman thinks “away from” isn’t enforceable because it’s not objective.
State law requires objective criteria to approve or deny permits, Mayor Jeremie Forman said.
“We've talked with not only our own city attorney, but several other attorneys who specialize in land use, and we've spoken with other land use experts, all of which agree — and among which there are no disagreements — that the state code trumps the city code in this circumstance,” he said March 13.
Outside Francis City Hall, birthday balloons flew in the air, a four and a five, signifying the 45-foot height maximum in Francis’ city center that residents have been saying is too high.
The Best Western will be less than 40 feet, with three stories, because it’s not in the city center zone. A separate, second hotel proposed in the city center down the street is seeking 45 feet.
The city council shot down the second hotel developer’s application for four stories — he'll need to settle for three — a small win for residents who otherwise didn’t get their way Thursday night.
