ST. GEORGE — State higher education officials plan to go into land-banking mode over the next few years, acquiring as much as they can get their hands on for nearly every college and university in the state.

"We need to be sure the future of education is served by having the appropriate amount of land available for expansion," said Utah State Board of Regents member Jerry Atkin, who chairs the Finance, Facilities and Accountability Committee.

As part of their regular meeting, held Friday at Dixie State College, board members voted to consider opportunities for land acquisition more aggressively going into the next decade.

Examples of potential campus land use were presented to the committee as Weber State University forecast a plan to occupy a hillside east of campus as well as additional portions of the school's Davis campus, already owned by the university.

This decision would bar any developers from obtaining the land for other use.

With the 120 acres available on the hillside, the university could build up to 10 traditional college buildings within the space of 1 million square feet.

"This would fill most of our needs for the next 30 to 40 years," said WSU President F. Ann Millner.

The Regents approved a motion Friday to include the mountainside property in the university's master plan. Furthermore, WSU was directed to continue seeking opportunities to acquire property adjacent to the Ogden and Davis campuses.

The land is undeveloped with the exception of two buildings that house key campus support services. A water retention facility for campus irrigation also is on the property.

Dixie State College outlined its space-constraint issues while giving the Regents a look at a new draft of its master plan, which hasn't been revised since 1994. The school's 115-acre footprint has reached its capacity, and for the college to meet its strategic planning goals for increased enrollment, future building and expansion options are needed.

"We're looking, in the next 20 years, at becoming the second-densest campus in the country," Dixie President Lee Caldwell said. "There is so little land and private ownership available here."

Despite aggressive property acquisition efforts, architects recommend that the Washington County-area school consider a vertical, urban-type campus, building taller buildings and possibly adding a parking garage, which would be the first of its kind in the St. George area.

Regent Nolan Karras said the plan to explore options of acquiring land for every campus is "a no-brainer" given the current state of the economy and increasing property values.

"On most of our campuses, we're out of space," said Keith Stephan, director of the state's Division of Facilities Construction and Management. He suggested that land acquisition and building opportunities be looked at differently by state officials to provide adequate attention to various campus needs.

"We believe the future of education is well-served by retaining property we already have," Atkin said. He added that land acquisition needs to be looked at aggressively in case the state is "lucky enough to have a good budget situation from the state in the next year or two."

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