Sandy planners decline to OK a site plan for Real's stadium

Parking and traffic flow worry city officials; a panel is to study them

SANDY — The legislative fast-tracking of the planned Real Salt Lake soccer stadium hit a speed bump Thursday night.

In a surprising vote, Sandy's planning commission held off approving a preliminary site plan for the stadium until parking concerns are addressed.

Parking and traffic flow are a big concern for commissioners, city council members and staff alike. At the urging of Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, a special parking committee will start meeting soon to research what the Major League Soccer team can do to accommodate the 20,000 fans Real expects to come to the games.

Commissioners do not want to give the stadium site approval until that committee can come up with some solutions.

Chairman Bruce Steadman said other than that, commissioners are excited about the stadium and "comfortable" with plans.

"What everything seemed to come down to is for you to get a better grab on this parking issue. I think that's where the discussions need to go," he said.

The stadium would sit on the northwest corner of 9400 South and State Street — one of the city's busiest intersections. Restaurant and movie theater district Jordan Commons sits at one corner, the South Towne Expo Center at another. Both are tight on parking, and the city worries the stadium will exacerbate the problem.

A state-approved plan gives the team $35 million of hotel-tax revenue for land and parking at the stadium site. State agreements dictate Real is in charge of building that parking, be it a garage or surface lot. An interlocal agreement among the team, city and state will also include provisions that Real build the stadium near the South Towne Expo Center with at least 1,000 stalls.

A study done by Hales Engineering shows that 15-20 percent of soccer fans will come to games on mass transit. That leaves more than 4,000 cars that will need to park for 18 home games. The city is also weighing options to chip in on the stadium for the expanding entertainment district.

"We want it to be right from the beginning," Councilman Steve Smith said. "We also don't want it to negatively impact the other property owners in the area."

Real has brought up the idea of providing parking for game nights at other nearby lots, such as Jordan High School, but has yet to make those arrangements. In fact, the only public comment during the meeting was from a nearby business owner who was wondering if he could charge for game parking.

Architecture firm ASWN+ presented plans Thursday that show a 524,766-square-foot stadium with 23,000 seats that will be 111 feet tall with canopies meant to mitigate sound and light. It will include two driveways to access the property off of State Street and 9400 South and a road north of the stadium that will loop around the property to State Street.

The property is labeled as "undeveloped farm land" and is surrounded by numerous businesses and other residential properties. Real will eventually try to buy out those properties.

"They don't really want to go forward until they have cash in hand," Randy Sant, Sandy's economic development director, said Wednesday. Real has already purchased the large Ardell Brown RV location north of the property.

Other concerns raised by planning staff include height, operating hours and requirements that the final site plan include trails complying with the Sandy City Trails Master Plan.

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E-mail: astowell@desnews.com

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