Farmington panel rejects UDOT plea

FARMINGTON — Members of the Farmington Planning Commission denied a request by the Utah Department of Transportation Thursday to amend the city master plan so the agency can buy land for a Legacy Parkway connector road.

The denial will be sent as a recommendation to the City Council as to how it should respond to UDOT's request. The council is expected to debate the issue some time in October.

Jim Talbot, chairman of the Planning Commission, said Friday that one reason for the denial was that commission members wanted more information from UDOT about alternatives to the connector road. Residents have been fighting against the change to the master plan for over a year, saying the proposed location for the road would destroy neighborhoods and split west Farmington in two.

The road would run northward from a location west of I-15 and north of Glover Lane. It would skirt the Davis County Fairgrounds, and then link with an extension of Legacy, known as Legacy North.

Talbot said the commission encouraged the city council to amend the master plan so the connector route was closer to the Great Salt Lake shoreline rather than through neighborhoods. UDOT officials have said they don't believe a road next the the shoreline could be built because of environmental impact.