HOLLADAY — This east-side city is about to take its first formal step toward revamping its downtown area.

The City Council will hold a public hearing Thursday at 6 p.m. to consider development guidelines and standards for the Holladay Village Center — the commercial zone surrounding the confluence of Holladay Boulevard, Murray-Holladay Road and 2300 East.

"It's a pretty detailed outline of what the city is expecting to have happen within that area," City Manager Randy Fitts said.

"What it does is it creates a character of future design within that area. They are looking to do something that is unique and works within the character of Holladay city."

The guidelines allow for buildings with a maximum height of two stories, or 35 feet; no maximum width is specified. That could open the door for one or more "big box" anchor stores to join what is now a distinctive hodgepodge of small businesses.

But Fitts doubts that will happen, saying residents are "not going to see a large Costco or Target, (but they) might see some larger store that will act as an anchor. . . . This is intended to develop and bring character to Holladay," not take away from the existing charm of the area.

Fitts said there are few parcels in the area that could accommodate a "big box" store, and said the city itself only owns 1.5 acres in the Village Center.

Considering approval of the guidelines is only part of the process of approving a full Holladay Village Center Master Plan. City leaders are still considering a possible realignment of the main streets in the area and have narrowed their choices to two possible designs, neither of which is a huge departure from the current configuration of Holladay Boulevard, Murray-Holladay Road and 2300 East.

"It's not going to be a major, major redesign of the roads," Fitts said.

The guidelines impose landscaping criteria, specify which materials can be used, and establish setbacks and minimum lot sizes (5,000 square feet) for the Village Center zone — as well as for the neighborhood buffer zone, which can have lots as large as 8,000 square feet but a maximum building width of 75 feet. Buildings in the buffer zone also can be as tall as 35 feet.

"The project itself is fairly comparable to other developments within the Salt Lake Valley," Fitts said of the Village Center restructuring. "But I think it really has the potential of taking this city a little bit further.

"We're not trying to compete with the Cottonwood Mall, but trying to complement them."

A vision statement accompanying the guidelines says the Village Center should "cater first to the residents of Holladay, providing goods and services that encourage them to shop at home rather than outside the city. . . . Visual impact is the goal with a village feel that would be a character and flavor unique to the Holladay area."

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