In 2022, the Utah State Legislature passed HB 462 mandating master-planned Station Area Plans (SAP) around transit stations including TRAX and FrontRunner. If cities don’t comply, consequences from the state include losing transportation funding for road maintenance and fines of $500/day until a city complies. The state’s deadline for all SAPs is Dec. 31.

“We are required under state law to fully comply, so that is the city’s goal and the city’s plan,” said Jennifer Jastremsky, Draper’s community development director. 

Jastremsky has been in the city’s Planning and Development department for a dozen years. Her team has been hard at work coming up with plans since HB 462 passed. “We first start a stakeholder committee with area residents and business owners, people within the boundary of the SAP, to get a good representation of their different interests and concerns, what they want to see protected, or what kind of development they want to see. Staff works with consultants to come up with different concepts. We take that back to the stakeholder committee, we hold an open house for the general public for feedback, then it’s fine-tuning that concept. The City Council has representatives working with us throughout that process and we keep the council up to date on feedback we’re hearing. Ultimately, after the open houses and feedback, we come up with a general concept that will be presented to the City Council. We make more modifications, then it goes to the Planning Commission and then the City Council for review and adoption,” she said. 

But that’s not all. “There’s an additional process after the city adopts the general plan. The Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) has to certify the plan. They’re a regional planning organization that looks at transportation and land use. They work with cities to coordinate master planning on a regional level,” Jastremsky said. 

Four objectives must be met in each SAP:

1) Increase the availability of affordable housing

2) Promote sustainable environmental conditions including utility usage, water efficiency and waterwise landscaping, alternative energy and consideration of energy impact

3) Enhance access to opportunities including the opportunity to own an affordable home, access to transit to get to work more efficiently, and access to parks or schools 

4) Increase transportation choices and connections

Draper has four transit stations for which SAPs are required:

1) Town Center-TRAX station northeast of City Hall 

2) Kimball’s Lane-TRAX station at 11800 South and 700 East

3) Crescent View-TRAX station at 11400 South and 500 East. Technically in Sandy, but SAPs must encompass the area within a half-mile radius of each station. Sandy City and Draper City are working collaboratively on this SAP.

4) Draper FrontRunner on the west side

The city tackled the Town Center SAP first and adopted it at the March 4 council meeting. “We started with the Town Center realizing…it gives the city an opportunity to decide what we want that to look and feel like. We’ve been working on that the last several years,” Jastremsky said. 

Components of the Town Center SAP include additional housing units, a community/arts center adjacent to City Hall on city-owned property, a plaza, a courtyard and trail connections from City Hall to Draper Park. The UTA property can also be developed, but that’s up to UTA to determine when and how. The SAP calls for up to five-story multi-family housing and mixed use along 12300 South by the UTA parking lot, with business and retail on the ground floor and residential above. 

Several residents from the Parkstone neighborhood came to the March council meeting to voice their concerns. Parkstone consists of approximately 40 homes nestled between the TRAX station on Pioneer Road and the UTA owned property and parking lot located off 12300 South. “I love the idea of redevelopment and creating a walkable area and making a gathering spot, but the issue I’m struggling with is transportation. I don’t see anything for that other than light rail. When you drive around during rush hour, some of these areas are at failure right now, including the roundabout. How is the transportation in this narrow area going to be addressed? I can’t imagine bringing in that density without major changes to the roads,” Paul Skeen said. 

“The data I can find online shows this is the lowest ridership of any TRAX station in the entire system…and yet we are affected 100% as though we have a lot of ridership. It’s the end of the line, and I don’t see in the future that will be extended. It’s not preserving this community, it’s changing it,” Steve Taylor said.

Mayor Troy Walker responded to residents’ concerns and gave a history of the SAP mandate, reiterating what he’s long said about the legislature putting the blame for the housing crisis on cities. “We all know that is not 100% the truth,” Walker said. “We have to show a plan that’s dense enough to pass. We have to do it. The thing you can take comfort in is it’s just a plan. Just because we show big buildings doesn’t mean it will get built. If our council could plan it, it would not be this plan. We are not unique to this requirement, everybody that has a transit stop has to do them. This is the political reality we are in. I want you to know this is not your city council doing it to you because we want to. It’s because we have to,” he said. 

Following Walker’s statements, every member of the council spoke. “This has been hard on city staff,” Marsha Vawdrey said. 

“This was forced upon us. We’ve worked hard to come up with a place for citizens to gather. We can look for the good parts in this plan and we’ll continue to work on this. Traffic is a big concern I have as well,” Bryn Johnson said. 

Mike Green thanked the people who came to the council meeting to give their input. “We love our community and we love when you join us in meetings,” he said. 

Fred Lowry noted this doesn’t necessarily mean there will be five-story buildings in the end. Lowry said the council is aware of the traffic, but they have to follow what the state is mandating. 

“This threat to local control is very real. The city is a subsidiary of the state and we only have so much power comparatively, so we do our best where we can. We bought the land adjacent to City Hall so we would have control. We’re doing everything possible to keep the Draper we all believe in,” Tasha Lowery said.

With regard to Parkstone, “The SAP calls for buildings next to them not to be taller than three stories,” Jastremsky said.

An open house for the three remaining SAPs will be held June 5 at City Hall. More information can be found on the city’s website and residents can call the Planning Department if they have questions or want to provide feedback. “We’re looking at doing a survey via social media and on the website as well,” Jastremsky said. “That’s forthcoming.” λ