Ogdenites can expect to see fewer apartment buildings pop up along busy roads in the future. 

The Ogden City Council voted to approve a proposed ordinance that would place limits on where new apartments can be built in the city, specifically in Community Commercial (C-2/CP-2) and Regional Commercial (C-3/CP-3) zones. The council voted 5-2 to adopt the ordinance during a meeting Tuesday. Council members Marcia White and Angela Choberka were the two no votes. 

City officials first floated the ordinance in June. Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski told Building Salt Lake in July his intent behind the ordinance is to preserve commercial space for future growth and divert new housing projects toward what he considered to be more appropriate areas.

Ogden’s C-2/CP-2 and C-3/CP-3 zones are primarily found along some of Ogden’s busiest corridors, including Washington Boulevard and Wall Avenue, north of 18th Street and south of 27th Street. The zoning can also be found along 12th Street and Harrison Boulevard. 

The newly passed ordinance would not restrict new apartment buildings in Ogden’s downtown.

Instead, Nadolski and other city officials have said previously that more apartments need to be built in the city’s urban core. One example of incoming downtown apartment units is the city’s WonderBlock, a redevelopment consisting of 354 apartments and a large amount of retail and office space. The development is located just a block south of Historic 25th Street, and it’s expected to take four years to complete.

Prior to voting Tuesday, the council also adopted an amendment to the ordinance that clarified the city’s group dwelling building code. The amendment required that developers must secure zoning compliance and a certificate of occupancy for nonresidential areas before or at the same time as receiving those certificates for residential areas. The amendment was adopted unanimously by the council.

“We have had some that have challenged (this) and wanted just to do the residential part and never do the commercial part,” said Barton Brierley, Ogden City planning manager, during the Tuesday meeting while presenting the amendment. “We felt the code was clear enough … some others felt it wasn’t, and so we’ve proposed some clarification to say, ‘Yes, they all have to be built together.’”

White told the council she was unsure about passing the ordinance with an amendment tacked on, saying she felt it would be better to table the ordinance and review it further before voting. She added she’s not opposed to the changes in the ordinance itself, but she said she voted against it because she didn’t have enough time to review it.

The amendment was aimed at quelling a disagreement between city officials and a Utah developer. 

Heritage Land Owners filed a petition in court last month asking a judge to review whether Ogden could dictate which phase of a project must be built first in a new mixed-use development.

The Tremonton-based development company said it believes the Ogden Planning Commission erred when it rejected its interpretation of city code. Heritage is responsible for developing the Midtown Village project, which consists of 15 townhome buildings consisting of 68 residential units, one commercial building and one mixed-use building on a 4.9-acre plot of land. 

Earlier this year, city staff told Heritage the project can’t move forward without first getting building permits for the commercial areas of the development. After appealing to the planning commission and the Ogden City Board of Zoning Adjustment — both to no avail — Heritage filed a petition in Ogden’s 2nd District Court. 

It’s not clear when the matter could be reviewed by a judge or argued in court.