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Provo staff present workforce housing plan for 3200 West Bulldog Lane; city to use land trust model for 34 subsidized lots
Summary
City staff and developer representatives described a proposed single-family, mixed-income subdivision on newly annexed land north of the high school. The plan would set aside 34 lots as workforce housing held in a land trust and prioritized for public servants; 34 market-rate lots would sell on the open market.
City development staff and the selected homebuilder outlined Sept. 23 a planned single‑family subdivision at 3200 West (Bulldog Lane) designed to include mixed-income housing and a land‑trust model for workforce lots.
Bill Pepperoni, Provo’s director of development services, said the property was annexed in late 2024 after a multi-year planning process. He said the city issued a request for proposals and selected Nielsen Homes (referred to in presentations as Nelson/Nielsen Homes) because the company proposed an all-detached, single-family neighborhood that met the city’s objective to produce entry-level homes and a set-aside of workforce units. Pepperoni said the project’s goals from the outset included having roughly half of the homes priced/limited to workforce buyers and integrating those homes with market-rate units rather than segregating income tiers.
Matt Meyer, representing Nielsen Homes, described product plans: smaller two‑story homes in the roughly 1,500–1,700 square‑foot range for market units and smaller footprint starter homes for workforce lots. Pepperoni and Meyer said there are wetlands on the property and that the design intentionally avoids building on those jurisdictional wetlands; a pedestrian boardwalk is planned to provide an internal trail connection.
Pepperoni said the city will preserve affordability for the 34 workforce homes by transferring land to the nonprofit arm of the Provo Housing Authority, which will hold the land in a land trust; buyers purchase the house and lease the land under the land‑trust terms. Pepperoni described prequalification and priority rules for the land trust: the city will prioritize public‑servant categories (police, firefighters, teachers, first responders) in an initial waiting list and the land trust will include enforcement language on resale and priority. Pepperoni said the workforce restrictions and the land trust’s terms would be “legally spelled out.” He also said there will be shared driveway designs and that most lots bordering the high school will be rear-facing to reduce driveway conflicts with school traffic.
Council members and members of the public pressed staff and the developer on several points: whether the workforce price points will truly reach first responders and teachers (staff said 120% area median income is the program target and that single‑income households at that level will vary by family size and that some categories may need dual incomes), whether construction vibration could affect adjacent homes (public works will place vibration monitors on the shared boundary during road/infrastructure work), and how groundwater/flood/stormwater risks in the nearby Delta/wetland area will be mitigated (staff said centralized, subdivision‑wide stormwater solutions will be used).
A number of implementation details were summarized by staff: no basements in the subdivision, a small homeowner association limited to maintaining the trail and a few bridge features, city‑built streets (not private), and on‑site trail and open space that connects to the city’s trail network. Pepperoni said 34 workforce lots will be prioritized for the waiting list and 34 other market lots will be sold on the open market.
Pepperoni and Meyer said the development agreement is still being finalized and will specify affordability targets. They said the land trust will control resale terms, and that the city expects the workforce lots to be sold first to qualifying buyers; Pepperoni described the land transfer and land‑trust mechanism as the means to preserve long‑term affordability.
Why it matters: the project uses city‑owned land and a land‑trust model to preserve a defined number of workforce homes near a new high school. If the development delivers on price‑target and resale controls, it would be one of Provo’s larger, integrated workforce housing pilots using land trust ownership to preserve affordability.
What happens next: the zone‑map amendment and related development agreement were scheduled for council consideration on the evening agenda; staff indicated mitigation commitments (vibration monitors, wetlands avoidance, stormwater measures) and the land trust structure will be documented in a forthcoming development agreement and legal instruments.
