The Roy City Planning Commission voted unanimously Oct. 14 to forward a recommendation to City Council supporting a development agreement with Main Line Company for property at 3918 South Midland Drive and 2710 West 4000 South that would increase building height by 10 feet and remove the zone’s requirement for ground-floor commercial space on 4000 South.

The commission’s recommendation does not finalize a contract; staff and the applicant said the full development agreement and related contracts (including a potential purchase from UDOT and terms for ownership/maintenance of a detention pond) are still being negotiated and will be presented to council as a package. Commissioners Thompson, Tanner, Felt, Hobert, Bailey and Reid voted “aye” on a motion to forward a positive recommendation.

The applicant, Bob Barnes of Main Line, told the commission the property includes a couple of one-acre lots along 4000 South and additional land near Midland Drive and that the proposal would place more of the city-facing commercial frontage on Midland Drive where it is more marketable. Barnes and a project representative described underground stormwater detention systems the project team would install to meet required capacity and reduce downstream erosion and pollutants.

Brody Flint, speaking for staff, said the development agreement element under consideration is the middle portion of the building that would be taller than surrounding sections; otherwise the design would retain the same lines of sight to adjacent residential areas. Flint and Barnes said the team prefers placing the bulk of commercial space on Midland Drive rather than on 4000 South, and that doing so could increase taxable commercial acreage for the city.

Several public speakers raised procedural and substantive concerns. Diane Chaston (3751 West 5575 South) said she did not have access to a finalized development agreement in the meeting packet and cited state law requiring public access to such an agreement before a vote; she asked the commission to limit tonight’s action to conceptual approval of the height change rather than acceptance of an unknown contract. Tammy Davis (5811 South 4025 West) questioned unit mix, asking whether the project would provide family-sized housing rather than studios and one-bedrooms. Barnes and staff responded that unit mix is not finalized and that the development would likely include a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, with some units intended to meet the city’s moderate-income housing guidelines.

Barnes and Flint also described a site engineering issue: a city-owned detention pond on the north side of the site that the original design said should hold about 55,000 cubic feet of runoff but that current evaluation shows holds roughly 27,000 cubic feet. Barnes said addressing the shortfall by installing underground detention could cost “upwards of a million dollars” but would resolve an infrastructure deficiency and free land for development. The applicant said the developer would maintain the underground system.

On the parcel ownership questions, staff said there are negotiations with UDOT over a triangular parcel and that the project depends on a set of related contracts (UDOT sale conditions, city property transfer or sale, detention-pond ownership/maintenance) that will be finalized for council review. Flint emphasized the package of agreements will be publicly available when the matter goes to City Council.

Commissioners and staff described tonight’s vote as a recommendation that allows the applicant to continue work on the development agreement and related contracts; actual contractual approvals and all final documents will come to council, at which time the public will have access to the complete agreement.

Votes at a glance: The commission’s roll-call recommendation to council — to increase building height by 10 feet and eliminate the commercial-space requirement on 4000 South — passed unanimously (6–0).

Next steps: The city will continue negotiating the development agreement and related property-sale and maintenance contracts; the finalized package will be posted and presented to City Council for decision.