Sandy neighbors seek to derail TRAX park and ride

SANDY — LeeAnn Evans accepts that she can't stop oncoming trains.

But she's not afraid to stand in the way of cars or buses.

Evans and several of her neighbors are hoping to derail the Utah Transit Authority's plans for a park-and-ride lot to serve the now-under-construction TRAX station at 11400 South and about 400 East.

They say putting a parking lot in an otherwise residential area would be detrimental to the neighborhood.

"The things we're concerned most about are the increase in traffic and crime, especially with the amount of children we have in this area," Evans said.

She and her neighbors will have a chance to make their case to the Sandy City Council on Tuesday. The group has appealed the Jan. 6 decision of the Planning Commission that gave UTA the green light to build the park and ride.

"We cannot prevent UTA from having a (TRAX) stop there," Evans said, "but we can have some input on if there's a park-and-ride lot there or not."

Neighbors have reluctantly surrendered to the reality that trains will be picking up and dropping off passengers near their homes. UTA owns the right of way along the so-called Draper Transit Corridor, and locating a station at 11400 South is the transit authority's prerogative.

That shifts the battle to the grassy field just west of the construction site, where neighbors' voices could play a role in how passengers get to and from the station.

UTA owns most of the eastern half of that field and plans to build a 222-stall parking lot there to support the TRAX station. It would become a 248-stall park and ride if UTA acquires a section of the property owned by Sandy.

Unlike its construction of the station, UTA needed city approval in the form of a conditional-use permit to build the park and ride. In January, the Sandy Planning Commission unanimously granted that approval, subject to a laundry list of conditions meant to address neighbors' concerns.

Neighbors' decision to appeal that ruling sends the issue to the City Council.

"We get to make our presentation about why we think the Planning Commission failed to see that a parking lot would be detrimental to our neighborhood," Evans said.

In addition to concerns about crime and traffic, neighbors are worried about what the park and ride will mean to their property values, she said.