From Deseret News archives:
Draper developer tweaks townhome proposal
New plan includes 100 townhomes, gas station, office space
Resident Jeff Hodges, however, said changes in the plan are more a "smoke and haze sales pitch" than any real improvement.
Developer Douglas Lowe's original plan called for 200 townhomes and apartments and no retail on an eight-acre plot at 900 East Highland Drive, an area zoned for commercial use. The new proposal would include only 100 townhomes and add 12,600 square feet of commercial, allotting space for a three-story office building and a gas station at the entrance of the semi-circle lot.
Lowe will present his modified plan to the city's Planning Commission tonight in hopes of getting the area's zoning changed to residential. If the Planning Commission recommends the change, Lowe will then have to make his case before the City Council for final approval.
Lowe said he hopes the addition of the retail space will appease residents who wanted to preserve the area's master plan vision of a walkable town center with community shops and restaurants. Lowe also said he is working with neighboring land owners to recruit more commercial to the area.
Lowe said he is hesitant to put more retail inside the eight-acre enclave because it will not be visible from Highland Drive and so would not attract companies to set up shop in the area.
"It's not going to help anyone if stores go in and can't be viable," he said.
The problem, Hodges said, is that if Lowe gets approval for his residential enclave, he will not be bound by verbal promises to increase nearby retail. Hodges said the changes are simply not good enough.
"I think it's a shell game. He's just shuffled around the phases of his plan," Hodges said. "This plan doesn't come anywhere near what the residents want."
Hodges, a member of the homeowners association next to Lowe's proposed Montclair Village, said residents would not be satisfied with a gas station in place of the small shopping district envisioned in the city's master plan.
"It's like we're swapping out a corner restaurant for a hot dog stand and an ice cream shop for a Slurpee machine," he said. "It's not conducive to the plan."
A staff report by city planners reveals city officials also have qualms about the proposal. In several sections, the report says that without additional alterations, the Montclair development "changes the original intent and goals of the South Mountain mixed-use center in a significant manner."
Grant Crowell, Draper planning manager, said the planning staff is still recommending approval of the project but with 21 conditions. One of the most significant conditions is the reduction of townhomes to 84 and the introduction of ground floor retail in the first two buildings at the mouth of the enclave.
"It was a judgment call. We had to make a decision to create conditions or deny the whole thing," Crowell said. "We chose to go with the conditions that we thought would mitigate residents' concerns."
But Hodges said most residents will not be swayed by the changes. The best route, he added, is for the city to reject Lowe's application in its entirety.
"We want the plan gone," he said. "If this goes through he sets a precedent: It's OK to violate the master plan. It's OK to violate the rules."
E-mail: estewart@desnews.com
