Blanding City approves B3 rezone and hears proposal to increase capacity at Recapture

Members of the Blanding city council adopted election results, heard a proposal to increase capacity at Recapture, and approved a rezone for a project to build apartments on Main at their latest meeting.
Members of the Blanding city council approved a rezone for a lot on Main Street at the November 18 meeting.
The rezone of commercial property to R2 Residential however is contingent on the proposed apartment buildings being built on the property, if the project does not move forward the property will revert back to commercial zoning.
The so-called B3 rezone of a three acre undeveloped lot on Main Street around 650 south is intended to build low-income apartments.
During a public hearing at a meeting on October 28 members of the city council heard from Bill Knowlton of B3 Real Estate Development.
Knowlton, also acknowledging local partners Kendall Laws and Tyler Howland presented a vision for a low-income housing tax credit (LITC) project.
The for-profit developer shared his experience building 8,000 low-income apartments in the state over a decade.
The proposed Blanding project would have two-bedroom two-bath units starting at around $450 a month.
Knowlton clarified the project would be subsidized through federal tax credits but not Section 8 vouchers.
He shared the credits would allow the developer to charge lower rents. The LITC project requires developer ownership for at least 15 years and is subject to four annual audits, with a failure to comply resulting in being banned from the program nationwide.
Knowlton also noted that the project adheres to high construction standards including insulation, sound attenuation and sourcing materials domestically as required by the federal Build America by America act.
Knowlton pointed out that the Grayson Apartments in Blanding were built under the same program.
Knowlton addressed the site selection sharing after touring nine sites the parcel was the only one B3 was able to come under contract with. Also adding the project has ample parking requirements and adding that the zone change was contingent meaning if the project fell through it would revert back to commercial zoning.
Members of the city council approved the rezone for the property.
Members of the Blanding City Council also approved an ordinance amending the required lot sizes in Residential R-1 zones from 10,000 to 7,500 square feet. The change to required size is intended to allow property owners to more easily split lots to build additional homes in the R1 zone in Blanding.
Members of the council gave approval for the reduction in lot size requirement but acknowledged there’s additional work to be done to simplify the ability to create major subdivisions in Blanding.
Members of the council also held a discussion about whether temporary conditional use of trailers or mobile homes on properties while a home is being built should be allowed. Council followed recommendation of the planning commission that the temporary use of trailers or mobile homes not be used as they noted its rarely used in the city. Members of the city council agreed but added that if a resident came forward with a specific need in the future, the council could look at adding the verbiage back in at that time.
Members of the city council also heard a report from city manager Pratt Redd about the potential to increase capacity at Recapture Reservoir by nine-percent. Redd outlined a project to raise the spillway with a concrete structure by 2.5 feet and could increase capacity at Recapture by 811 acre-feet.
Members of the council gave advice and consent to contact the necessary oversight entities including the Division of Wildlife, and the Bureau of Land Management to ensure dam safety.
The Council also approved a contract award for the Fourth Reservoir Trail project to Phillips and Co. Construction, the low bidder for the project.
Members of the Blanding city council also adopted the 2025 general election canvas. The results had Chad Moses earning 411 votes and Jesse Grover’s 354 votes resulting in election to the city council for four-year terms, along with Trevor Olsen elected as Mayor running unopposed and receiving 643 votes with the trio scheduled to be sworn in on January 5, 2026.
At the meeting council also heard a report about work at the airport, with plans being made to install signage at the airport to reduce aircraft noise over town by encouraging pilots to conduct runups at the end of the runways. Additionally the project to install a wildlife fence around the perimeter of the airport is nearing completion.