Matt and Christina Smith have lived in the Brown Farm neighborhood off 300 East for 11 years. Rosemary Thomas and her family have been there for 23 years. They and many of their neighbors are highly concerned by what they fear is a “done deal” rezone from residential to commercial and accompanying development agreement on nearly 20 acres of undeveloped land known as “Bangerter Crossroads” at the intersection of Bangerter Parkway and 13800 South.

“I know it can’t stay a field. I know it can’t stay residential. But we feel like the size and scope of what they want to put there is ridiculous,” Thomas said. 

Development agreement documents being reviewed by the city from the property owner, Tom Lloyd, show a large shopping center anchoring the site with a mix of shops and businesses, eateries, drive-thrus and gas pumps. Lloyd is represented by Duaine Rasmussen who has communicated on Lloyd’s behalf with city officials and area residents.

The neighbors weren’t happy to hear the portion of the development across from them would be the back side of the large retail center where delivery trucks enter, unload and exit. And Thomas and the Smiths saw major concerns in the scope of development maps for the site, including a road running east-west from Bangerter Parkway through the development to 300 East, right across from their neighborhood. 

“During rush hour, people are going to cut through rather than go to the intersection at 13800 South,” Thomas said. (Rasmussen has indicated that will be a right in, right out only road.) But Thomas and the Smiths say their main concern is the impact on traffic for everyone who lives, goes to school or drives in that area, one of the city’s main egress and ingress points. 

Matt Smith and other neighbors attended the November Planning Commission meeting to state their concerns. That meeting resulted in a negative recommendation from the Planning Commission to the Draper City Council. They also attended the December council meeting to voice their concerns. The council approved the rezone at that meeting contingent upon receiving a development agreement by Dec. 29, 2025.

Matt Smith, an engineer (but not a traffic engineer), set out to understand traffic studies done in the area in recent years. He found a 2022 study done by A Trans and then found the developer hired Hales Engineering to “iterate off that study.” Matt reached out to the man who had created the 2022 A Trans study.

“That man spent three to four hours on the phone with him over the holidays. It was very kind. Matt learned how to interpret a traffic study and how the math works,” Christina Smith said. 

For traffic engineering purposes, Matt Smith learned you define what’s going onto the property and then assign a land use to it. From there you factor the number of trips per day based on the types of businesses planned for the development. For example, drive-thrus have more trips than a large retail store does. Square footage of stores is also factored in. All of that is taken into account to figure out the impact on traffic, including intersections in the area. 

 “The early traffic study in 2022 was done by A Trans. From there, the developer hired another company called Hales Engineering to iterate off that study. I noticed the retail development called out in the study and subsequent iterations is different than what was presented at the November Planning Commission meeting, the Dec. 16 city council meeting, and in the Dec. 29 submitted development agreement,” Matt Smith said. “If you listen to the Dec. 16 city council meeting, the developer claimed a new traffic study was done and the levels of service were fine. The council listened and seemed happy about it, but the fundamental issue was the size of the development and most importantly the land use being used in the traffic study doesn’t represent the type of development being submitted. It’s inconsistent between the traffic study and what the developer is submitting.” 

“That really impacted Matt, feeling like something is being misrepresented,” Christina Smith said.

“The Hales study done in December 2025 under-projects the total daily site trips by roughly 50%. Therefore, projected levels of (traffic) service will be significantly worse than the study indicates and what the developer is telling the city council. The Hales study showed 9,000 daily trips based on the December 2025 traffic study, however, when you look at the master development agreement and apply a correct land use based on what they submitted, it’s 17,000-plus trips per day. How can city council members in good conscience agree to a development that’s going to completely drown this area with traffic,” Matt Smith said.

Matt Smith created an analysis that showed the discrepancies. He presented that to members of the city council and to City Manager Mike Barker. 

“I feel a civic duty to make sure this information gets out there,” Matt Smith said. 

Key to the entire process is that it is the developer who hires and pays for the traffic studies. That’s protocol. 

Matt Smith noted the traffic studies he’s seen don’t even take into account new traffic generated in the area following a hotel being built and a new Chick-fil-A that opened near Harmon’s, across the street from the proposed development.

The Smiths and their neighbors have had ongoing meetings with Mayor Troy Walker, councilmembers and Barker. Walker is one of their neighbors. After delving into the traffic studies, Smith presented the inconsistencies he discovered to members of the council on several different occasions. Smith conveyed his appreciation for the opportunity to present what he’d found.

Among the reasons the Smiths say the concerned neighbors were given for the council’s decision to approve the rezone is the city is currently experiencing a budget shortfall and needs more revenue from sales tax, the main thing the mayor said keeps Draper property taxes lower than most cities in Salt Lake County. But one neighbor questioned why create this big development to alleviate a one-year budget shortfall when there is supposed to be a lot of retail development coming at The Point which falls within Draper City limits. Thomas said city officials have also cited a case in Sandy where the city turned down a request for rezone on an undeveloped parcel off 1300 East, but that landowner took his case to a judge who mandated the property owner can do what he wants. Sandy City used taxpayer funds to litigate the case which they ultimately lost.

The Smiths and their neighbors are requesting a new traffic study be done followed by an independent review of that study, something Matt Smith realizes is not city protocol. Matt Smith told Barker he’d also like to see the roundabout at 300 East and 13400 South included in the scope of the new traffic study. 

“This intersection is a primary access route for surrounding neighborhoods and is already heavily impacted during morning and afternoon school traffic associated with Channing Hall,” Matt Smith said in an email to Barker.

City officials are currently reviewing the development agreement they received from the landowner by the Dec. 29 deadline. Barker has indicated a new traffic study will happen, paid for by the developer. “Staff will review the TIS (Traffic Impact Study). In addition to staff review, there will be a third-party review completed,” Barker wrote in an email to Matt Smith in early March. 

The development agreement including the updated traffic study will go before the Planning Commission for vote again and then to the city council for final approval. That must happen by May 7, otherwise the rezone and development agreement become null and void.