Clearfield balking at UTA plan

CLEARFIELD — The Utah Transit Authority is going back to the drawing board on a plan to develop 70 acres of land adjacent to Clearfield's FrontRunner commuter-rail station.

Clearfield officials say the proposed development would increase Clearfield's population by 8,000 to 10,000 residents — or 30 percent — without adequately offsetting the impact of that many new people.

"It's just fatally flawed that way," Clearfield Mayor Don Wood said.

During a recent joint meeting of Clearfield's City Council and Planning Commission, UTA's real estate manager presented a master plan showing 3,150 new residential units, along with parking structures and 700,000 square feet of commercial and office space.

It's what is known as a transit-oriented development, which seeks to have a mix of land uses near a transit center. The goal, says UTA development manager Ryan McFarland, is to allow people to live, work, shop, play and travel in the same area.

The Gateway in Salt Lake City is an example of thriving transit-oriented development, he said.

UTA may eventually have such developments in Ogden, Orem, Draper, Farmington, Layton and Sandy — anywhere it owns developable land near light- or commuter-rail stations.

But what was missing from UTA's plan in Clearfield raised officials' hackles.

There were no schools, no churches and little open space, they said.

Clearfield officials estimate three to five elementary schools and three churches would be needed for a population of 8,000 to 10,000 people.

Wood said the intersection near the city's FrontRunner station at 1250 S. State is so congested that motorists already have a difficult time navigating the area.

Adding 3,000 to 5,000 more vehicles would only exacerbate the problems, they said.

And the development currently doesn't appear to include enough of a commercial base to offset the impacts on city resources — such as police, fire and utilities — that 10,000 people and their homes would have.

"We'd love to have (transit-oriented development), but it's got to be right," Wood said.

He suggested UTA planners consult the city about its vision through the planning process.

UTA real estate director Steve Hansen said that's what he plans to do by involving city personnel to let them provide feedback about how UTA can address the elected and planning officials' concerns.

Hansen said he plans to meet with the Davis School District to get enrollment estimates, as well.

But the project will only be successful if UTA's developer, Sandy-based Berger Inc., is successful, UTA says. And its planners have to rely on what Berger Inc. thinks it can bring into Clearfield.