FARMINGTON -- Thurs-day's public hearing on the Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU) zone text in Farmington got under way at 7:30 p.m. Three hours, and 35 speakers later, members of the Farmington City Council called a halt to the proceedings, but only a temporary one. The discussion will be continued on Sept. 7.

No conclusions were reached by council members on the zone text. But they received generous input from residents who believe the zone should be primarily residential in nature with some small, low-impact commercial development and others who feel more, and larger commercial is needed to provide additional tax revenues.

Despite Mayor David Con-nors' exhortations that the meeting was about the zone text, not any development proposed for areas being considered for NMU designation, comments from people on both sides repeatedly mentioned that development.

Some speakers felt developers had undue influence on the current zone text, as it was passed on to city council members by the planning commission counterparts. The text, they alleged, has been modified from its original intent to accommodate that development.

Repeatedly referred to was a "top 10" list of modifications suggested by resident Dan Anderson to return the text to that original intent. Those 10 points included the following: stress neighborhood uses over commercial, limit commercial and retail uses to 40 percent of the total; limit combined commercial/retail square footage to 120,000; limit hours of operation to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., no drive-in or drive-through retail, limit largest building to 35,000 square feet; no compromise to health, safety and welfare of existing community; require developers to furnish proof projects would not damage property values, allow no detraction to the visual character of the neighborhood and create an enforcement committee for each NMU project with one member from the surrounding community.

"I urge the city council to adopt these changes," said An-derson. "Put the word 'neighborhood' back in NMU."

Sharon Treu submitted a petition signed by 400 area residents to council members. The petition asked the zone text be returned to that originally proposed.

"The original text, listing NMU as primarily residential with a small amount of low-impact commercial already represents a considerable compromise," she said.

Opponents also said the current text reads more like commercial mixed use than neighborhood mixed use.

"The text doesn't reflect the nature of neighborhood use," said Scott Lewis. "The proportion of residential is minimal."

Others expressed concerns about negative impacts on property values.

bmickelson@davisclipper.com