On October 17, 2018, Orem City Council approved in a unanimous 7-0 vote the complete redesign and division of State Street in a master plan ranging from 2100 North, South to 1200 North in Provo.
The northernmost borough of the city is called North Village and is concentrated in the 1600 North and State Street area. Part of the borough covers the area between State Street and 400 West along 1600 North.
So far, the State Street master plan appeared to be exactly what residents had ordered, including a buffer between the neighborhood single-family homes and State Street developments.
Now, for the first time, a developer has applied for and adhered to the master plan. This conformity enables mixed-use units on 400 west across the street and next to residential buildings in the neighborhood.
The development would replace a Hawaiian shaved ice shack and used car shop. Four townhouses facing 400 West, 43 condos in a five story high-rise, behind the townhouses and closer to State Street, underground parking and retail overlooking 1600 North.
All units are inhabited by the owner.
LaNae Millett, a local resident and several other of her neighbors, are extremely concerned that the proposed development will, among other things, have a negative impact on transport in the area.
“This area is already maxed out,” said Millett. “The traffic study that was conducted does not adequately represent traffic in the region.”
Millett points out that the study was conducted during COVID, when traffic was severely reduced, and during the slowest times of the day.
Corridor 1600 North provides access to two elementary schools, a junior high school and a Timpanogos high school.
“Traffic will be secured at 7 a.m.,” said Millett. She added that people coming north to south might be forced to take the smaller road north around 1830 and that would take them to the heart of the neighborhoods.
Millett also noted that an access point to the State Street development makes no sense and would not be approved by the Utah Department of Transportation, which owns the highway.
“This was brought into town several times before this development,” noted Millett.
“We are so stumped that they are moving forward,” said Millett. “We believe that the traffic study is inadmissible.”
Millett and others could potentially request that another traffic study be done at a different time and with more sophisticated equipment than just counting, but they may have to pay for it.
Millett said she believed residents were also misled by the city about the right setbacks required to develop on that corner.
The State Street Masterplan includes all of the zoning requirements for future developers and architects to get them right without going through the city council, just going through the planning board for permits.
During the 2018 council vote, then-city long-term planner Christian Kirkham said the State Street master plan had been in the works for five years.
Over the past five years, the city had proposed several key stakeholders, including the Utah Department of Transportation, Provo, the Utah Transit Authority, business owners, developers, and local residents, in planning the future appearance of Orem, State Street, and its current location Development.
Although the developer’s plans are not final, the developer appears to have met the requirements of the master plan, according to Ryan Clark, director of Community Services.
“This project meets every goal of the State Street Master Plan,” said Clark. “It complies with codes and regulations and an application has been made.
“We treated this development like any other development in town,” added Clark.
Before the developer can meet with the planning committee, he must meet with the residents. This meeting should take place on Monday evening.
The only thing the city council has is re-zoning homes that have been designated as business parks to be returned to the R-8 zone. This vote will take place on Tuesday.
One of these houses is north of the development and was bought by the developer in the hopes that they could use it as an access point. The idea was suppressed by UDOT.
Regarding traffic, Councilor Debby Lauret met with Clark to answer some of her own questions.
Lauret noted that they expect about 530 trips a day when development is complete. She compared that to other numbers. For example, a 1,000 square meter grocery store has approximately 471 journeys per day and a supermarket has approximately 762 journeys per day. The 530 trips did not affect her.
In any way, members of the city council will not see the motion and will not be able to vote against it.
“All the master plan for State Street was to make State Street beautiful with protected single-family neighborhoods,” said Lauret.
Lauret added that the local council is sensitive to traffic and parking issues, but landscaped townhouses across from single-family homes seem like a better buffer than a Hawiian Shave Ice cabin and used car parking lot.
Comments are closed.