Centerville's Main Street Plan?

Density protest extends Main Street hearing in Centerville

byJenniffer Wardell

Nov 10, 2010 | 347 views | 0  |  | 2  |  | 

CENTERVILLE — The public has spoken, and there are a couple of things about Centerville’s Main Street plan that they’re not happy with.

The Centerville City Council will continue the Nov. 3 public hearing on amendments to the plan at their Nov. 16 city council meeting. The council will then deliberate on whether or not to approve the amendments after the second portion of the public hearing is closed.

Mayor Ron Russell made the decision after the amount of people who wanted to speak against the increased density proposed by the plan ended up too much to be handled in a single meeting.

“The resounding message that the council heard was that, while there are many elements of the Main Street plan that we like, we just want lower density,” said Centerville resident Brent Hintze, who spoke at the meeting.

The plan, which was officially approved by the council in 2008, mandated certain design elements for Main Street buildings to give the stretch a more unified look. Some of the design details included the use of rock or other heavier building materials on the first floor, as well as the use of more glass facing the street.

Most of the amendments currently up for approval are actually relaxing some of the plan’s initial height requirements for buildings, as well as the removal of language that residents felt was too encouraging of public transit.

“The plan always accommodated the possibility of mass transit, but it was never the overarching desire,” said Centerville City Community Development Director Cory Snyder. “But folks felt like the plan was a little too friendly to mass transit, and wanted us to remove some of those references.”

The increased density option, which was a part of the original plan when it was first approved, comes from the decision to allow business owners more flexibility in the use of their buildings. The option was put in by the city to encourage owners to remodel their buildings to match the new plan.

“We’re trying to move the buildings closer to the street so that they frame it better,” said Snyder. “By opening it up and allowing for mixed uses, we’re giving owners more of an incentive to make changes.”

One of the things residents are concerned about, however, is that density will encourage mass transit along Main Street.

“UTA needs a higher density to make light rail more viable,” said Hintze. “By lowering density, it clearly minimizes the chances that light rail makes any sense.”

Earlier this month, the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) adopted the transportation plan for the Wasatch Front through the year 2040, and no money was allotted for light rail. It will be at least four years before the WFRC can take another look at the plan and possibly move money around, and the Utah Transit Authority, which is in charge of planning any such project, has said they won’t do that until they have more meetings with residents.

No matter how many years it is, though, some residents insist that the feedback won’t be any different.

“I feel that those people who move into Centerville should be more aware of the people who lived here for years and are content with many things,” said resident Marjean Steed, who also spoke at the hearing. “We don’t need high density or apartments on Main Street.

“We don’t need people telling us what kind of homes we can live in. If they don’t like it, they can move.”

jwardell@davisclipper.com