Proposal restricts some businesses on Orem's State Street

Proposal restricts some businesses on Orem's State Street

(Orem City)


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OREM — Nate Kinsey well remembers meeting resistance when he and his wife opened a business on State Street in Orem.

"Eight years ago my wife and I are the ones that had to go to the (council) votes," said Kinsey, who runs Forever Yours Tattoo at 1128 S. State. "At first they weren't going to allow us to open."

Now Kinsey is speaking up again after learning that his business would be barred from expanding on State Street — and new or relocating tattoo parlors and a variety of other types of businesses prohibited from opening there — if a proposed amendment to city code passes the vote of Orem City Council on Oct. 13.

Citing the beautification of State Street, the zoning amendment proposed by the Orem Planning Commission would make the street off limits to new golf driving ranges, furniture manufacturers, animal daycare centers and runs, crematoriums, industrial and farm equipment businesses, ice manufacturers, chimney sweeps and tattoo parlors.

Existing businesses that fall under those categories would be grandfathered in, but not allowed to physically expand their businesses on Orem's main thoroughfare, under the proposal.

"Where's the American dream in that?" Kinsey asked. "We all get in business to … be able to support ourselves and our families and everyone wants to get bigger and better. That's … what the dream is. That almost doesn't seem American to me."


Where's the American dream in that (the proposal)?

–Nate Kinsey, businessman


Kinsey is not alone. The owners of some other State Street businesses in Orem are asking the City Council to carefully reconsider making such zoning changes.

"They were just looking at who is manufacturing assuming that they're dirty," said Wasatch Laminate owner Eric Wilkey, referring to city officials. "Manufacturing — it's just not dirty any more … if it's done correctly."

Wasatch Laminate is one of seven affected businesses specifically named in the proposed amendment that would be grandfathered into the new zoning code but would not be allowed to expand in its current locations. Wilkey has spoken with other owners who are concerned about the potential restrictions on their businesses.

"They kind of have the same feel that they don't want the government to step in and cripple their business," Wilkey said.

Orem City Councilman Brent Sumner said the city must consider its long-term vision for State Street when making changes to city code, which is why zoning changes were suggested in the first place.

"We've got over five miles of State Street, and we're just trying to get more organization to it," he said.

Related

Sumner, however, has his own concerns about the proposal. He said he wants to be sure the city isn't too heavy handed with business owners by denying them an opportunity to be profitable.

"Well, to name (the prohibited businesses) specifically, that concerned me as well," he said. "We want to make sure we keep our sign up that we're open for new business and expanding businesses. … If someone wants to expand next door, there's probably parameters on that, but I think we ought to allow them to expand."

History of amendment

The amendment was brought before the City Council during its Sept. 22 meeting when Jason Bench, the city's division planning manager, cited the city's State Street master plan designed to "promote a family-friendly culture while becoming an attractive, urban lifestyle alternative for residents, businesses and visitors."

In his presentation on the council's agenda, Bench said city staff reviewed businesses in the zone to determine "what currently permitted uses might be incompatible with the new vision for State Street." The staff also looked at what types of business might now be appropriate that may not have been previously allowed.

City staff used an "outside consulting firm" to help them come up with the recommendations. The proposed amendment to city code would also allow dentist offices, indoor soccer facilities and ropes courses for the first time.

Councilman David Spencer said residents were asked for their feedback on the amendment and other issues at various open houses, but they weren't as well attended as he would have liked.

Spencer, like Sumner, wants more leeway for the existing businesses on State Street that wouldn't meet the new city code.

"If they want to expand and we're saying they can't, is that fair? I don't think so," he said. "(The question is) what type of expansion would they be looking at? There has to be some room for expansion."

Spencer sees a need to shore up Orem's State Street to give it more of a recognizable downtown area. "We're trying not to exclude companies, but to mold State Street into our downtown the way we want it for our future," he said.

Mayor still studying options

Orem Mayor Richard Brunst said he is still studying the amendment and can't yet put his full support behind it or otherwise opine on the issue until he learns all of its ramifications.


We've got over five miles of State Street, and we're just trying to get more organization to it.

–Brent Sumner, Orem councilman


"We're still looking at it and going over it, so at the moment I don't really want to comment either yea or nay on it," Brunst told the Deseret News. "We're looking at ways we can improve and beautify our area, so these were some suggestions that were given."

Of importance to Sumner is the various businesses' reliance on their State Street location, or lack thereof.

"I had a printing business along State Street," he said. "With what I was doing, I could have gone down and off of State Street and still done the same kind of work and still been profitable. If they require State Street exposure and State Street foot traffic, that's another topic."

To Wilkey, State Street is important for visibility, even for businesses with little or no retail component. Moving off the city's busiest street or not being allowed on it in the first place would be a major turnoff to business owners, he said.

"If we're forced into a strip between Geneva and the freeway," Wilkey said, "eventually (the city) will just squeeze everyone to Pleasant Grove and Provo."

He admits council members have so far been "very responsive" to his concerns and he hopes they will shoot down the amendment as it's written.

Spencer said the council may postpone a vote on the amendment beyond Oct. 13 if their questions aren't resolved by then.

"Not everybody's going to like what you do or the decision you make. But you've got to do your research and make your best decision," he said.

Attitudes toward businesses

For Kinsey, whatever decision the council makes will be a good measure of City Hall's attitude toward his business, which he has criticized in the past.

"It's really unfair to judge a book by its cover and I feel like we get that a lot," he said of his tattoo parlor. "The way we look has nothing to do with the kind of people we are."

Kinsey said he and his wife want nothing more than the opportunity to go as far as their business will take them. And a city-sanctioned restriction on thriving would demoralize their business, he believes.

"Where is the equal opportunity in all of that? It seems like that (would be) taken away," Kinsey said. We're Americans here — that's the American dream to capitalize, you know what I mean? And what a better place to do that than State Street?"

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