Payson Roundup

What does it mean to sustain Payson’s quality of life?

Members of the Design Review Board wrangled with this question at their bi-monthly Tuesday night meeting.

Does it mean preserving the town’s western heritage, the rural setting, the rodeo and a sense of small-town community?

Actually, it doesn’t mean any of these things.

In terms of the design review board, it means one thing — maintaining and creating the look of a mountain community.

This is done with stones, woodsy color schemes, tin roofs, native trees and plants and wood materials.

The committee clarified this caveat with a simple rearranging of words in the town’s unified development code for landscaping and buffering.

New committee member, James Garner, brought the issue to the committee’s attention as they began the process of rewriting the development code.

“Everyone looks at that (quality of life) as something different,” Garner said. “I get concerned because it can be interpreted 10 different ways by 10 different people.”

Initially Garner looked at it like most people would, he said, as an overall quality of life.

Board chairperson Bernie Lieder said he intentionally left the wording open so as not to quell the imagination of builders.

“From our standpoint, it is a materials issue,” Lieder said. “It is not a philosophy or way of living.”

After a quick re-write, the board moved on to inspecting the rest of the code. The board’s next meeting is Aug. 25, in the Town Council Chambers at 3 p.m. The board will discuss the final draft and appendices of the proposed amendments to the Historic Main Street Design Review area guidelines.