Draper's town center — An old idea becomes new again

DRAPER — What's old is new again in Draper.

A group of residents, business owners and members of the Historical Preservation Commission are trying to revive plans to create a town center that will preserve the city's rural character.

Concerned about future development and frustrated by the lack of an organized town center, the unofficial group has banded together to discuss their ideas and share them with city leaders. The hope is that stricter ordinances will be enacted to guide imminent development between 700 East and 1300 East, and between 12300 South and 12700 South.

"Everyone has a slightly different take on how things should be and because of that, creating a town center is a dynamic process," said Steve Sugiyama, a member of the group and owner of Food for Thought, a local restaurant. "We're trying to keep the doors open for everyone and involve everyone's opinions."

However varied the approach, the idea of creating a town center is not new. That's part of the frustration, said Bill Moedl, a member of the town center study group and a resident of the city's historic district.

"Draper, which organized itself to keep Sandy at bay, has been fooling around with the idea of creating a town center pretty much since its inception," Moedl said.

The city has never really had a main street because of the haphazard way the community has developed, long-time residents point out. It's something city officials have seriously considered remedying for more than a decade — even hiring consultants to map out plans for a town center — but no further action has been taken.

David Dobbins, newly appointed head of community development, said he's unsure why town center plans have been repeatedly shelved. His goal now is to create a plan with help from the study group, the planning commission and members of the City Council that the city will implement.

No specific plan has been adopted yet, Dobbins said, emphasizing that people should go into the planning process with an open mind and see what comes out rather than pushing to have a certain idea approved. He doesn't expect the city to adopt a plan for a couple of months.

In the meantime, residents and business owners say they fear that Draper is beginning to resemble a bedroom community.

"We'd really like people to have the opportunity to come home and stay home — not just spend their dollars here, but feel like they're home when they're home and feel like they can identify with Draper," Moedl said.