Provo Council OKs Joaquin project

PROVO — Pop the corks on that sparkling cider: The Provo City Council has approved the Joaquin Village project that, when done, will house nearly 1,000 Brigham Young University students.

But many neighbors don't feel like celebrating.

More than a dozen residents of the Joaquin neighborhood just south of BYU implored the council to postpone or reject the project, but the seven council members instead voted unanimously late Tuesday night to approve the apartment complex.

BYU and Provo leaders agree with folks in the neighborhood who say that students should be lured away from houses — "student hotels," to some — below 500 North into apartments between 500 North and 800 North, the southern border of campus.

Slowly, that is beginning to happen, and families are returning to the homes, but residents worried openly that even though Joaquin Village is between 500 and 600 North, it isn't yet a perfect fit for the strategy.

They said it is:

• Too tall. At five stories, it will ruin views and tower over homes to the south, east and west. To Charmaine Thompson, "It's like looking down the barrel of a gun."

• Too big. Putting 952 students across the street from the homes and families in the area adds 3,000 new vehicle trips to surrounding streets.

• Too small. The 720 parking spots aren't enough to keep students from parking in the neighborhood.

Joaquin neighborhood chairman Kurt Peterson said the city should have slowed down and dealt with those issues before approving the rezoning.

"Are we going to provide a true divide between student-friendly north Joaquin and family-friendly south Joaquin?" he asked. "Where is the traffic abatement plan? Where are the traffic slowdown measures in north Joaquin? Where is the family-friendly zoning?"

Council members said the developers had resolved the necessary concerns as they revised the plan nine times for the Planning Commission, city staff and council.

Tuesday night's vote changed the zone from public facility — it had been the site of Joaquin Elementary School — to a specific zone named for Joaquin Village.

The vote also authorized Mayor Lewis Billings to enter into a development agreement with Arrowstar, which will have to follow the language in the specialized zoning ordinance and the agreement.