Saint George City Council voted to continue consideration of an ordinance to amend the Atkinsville interchange area Planned Development Commercial (PDC) zone for a proposed mixed-use project — 107-room hotel, a roughly 20,000-square-foot medical office building and about 8,431 square feet of retail — to the council’s Feb. 6 meeting.

The project, referred to in staff presentations as the Mohave Crossing proposal, was the subject of extended discussion among planning staff, the applicant and councilmembers. Planners said the proposed uses are listed as allowed within the Atkinsville plan’s C2 use list, and the applicant submitted revised site plans after Planning Commission feedback: the hotel was rotated and reduced from earlier iterations (the plan under consideration listed 107 rooms down from original layouts cited in the packet).

Residents and councilmembers raised repeated concerns about site grading, a steep elevation change between the site and adjacent roads (Pioneer Road, Sandpiper and Nighthawk Drive), emergency and site access, trash-enclosure siting and exterior lighting. Councilmembers asked whether an access could be provided to Nighthawk Drive rather than Sandpiper to reduce neighborhood impacts. Civil engineering staff and the applicant’s engineer explained that existing topography — and prior mass grading performed on the site — make a Nighthawk access difficult without substantial regrading, retaining walls and loss of parking; they estimated elevation differences on the order of several feet (engineering commentary described differences around 11–14 feet between proposed finished floors and Nighthawk at points). The applicant said they had met with neighborhood representatives and the planning department multiple times during the review.

Parking and operational concerns were also discussed. Staff and the applicant said the proposed site meets code parking requirements on paper (174 stalls provided vs. 167 required) but the hotel/retail/medical mix, and the potential for future food uses, could change required parking calculations. Councilmembers asked the applicant to commit to ensuring trash pickup occurs during daytime hours (a condition already recommended by Planning Commission) and to consider screening or relocating trash enclosures that are currently shown near front setbacks.

Given the unresolved questions about whether a feasible Nighthawk access could be engineered and how grading and retaining walls would affect parking and neighboring lots, councilmembers directed staff and the applicant to study the access options and grading more closely. Council voted to continue the item to the Feb. 6 meeting to allow staff to analyze whether a northern (Nighthawk) access could reasonably be provided and, if not, to return with details and proposed mitigation (for example: right-turn‑only egress, no overnight parking along Sandpiper, masonry walls, or other traffic controls).

Motion and outcome: Councilmember Jimmy Hughes moved to continue the item to Feb. 6; Danielle Larkin seconded. The motion to continue passed with the council’s voice vote; no roll call was recorded for the continuance.

Why it matters: The proposal converts parcels within the Atkinsville/Atkinville interchange area plan from previously planned employment/commercial designations into active commercial uses with a hotel and medical office that would increase local traffic and change the neighborhood character. The council’s decision to continue reflects unresolved engineering and neighborhood impacts that staff and the applicant will now study further.

What’s next: Staff and the applicant will return on Feb. 6 with engineering analysis on access and grading options, and with recommended conditions addressing trash enclosures, lighting, parking and traffic management.