Lindon council hears Castlewood Development plan for 700 North; debate centers on housing, parking and public access

Castlewood Development representatives presented a draft master plan to the Lindon City Council on July 15, outlining about 87,000 square feet of commercial space and a mixed-use town center along the city's 700 North corridor.

Mayor Carolyn Lundberg opened the special meeting and framed it as an informational presentation: "This is a special meeting in the summertime... so welcome to this meeting," she said. The developer team said the plan still calls for the plaza and retail shown in earlier materials and that the disappearance of Costco as a prospective anchor was the main change since February.

Dwayne Rasmussen of Castlewood Development told the council the recent loss of Costco altered the leasing picture but not the core proposal. "There are no more units than we proposed then," Rasmussen said, adding the developer is seeking to maintain the retail and town-center concept. Partner Haley Pratt said the project will meet the city's parking standard, increasing from an earlier 1.8 stalls per unit to two: "We've heard that loud and clear, and we intend on parking at the 2 stalls per unit."

Why it matters: council members and many nearby residents said the project could define Lindon's long-term downtown identity, tax base and infrastructure needs. Council members repeatedly pressed the developer for details on apartment counts, phasing and who would bear costs and risks if the city buys the front parcel.

Key facts and commitments - Project program: developer presentation and staff summary described roughly 87,000 square feet of retail and a town-center plaza; a mix of apartments and townhomes was proposed but configurations could change. The developer said the total number of apartment units would not exceed what had been included in earlier drafts. - Parking: Castlewood committed to a two-stall-per-unit parking standard and to perform a parking study to document compliance. Haley Pratt: "That stall is assigned to that unit and it's figured in the rent." - Plaza and public access: developers said the town-center plaza is included in the plan and would be built in the first phase. Castlewood said it would likely own and manage the plaza but grant a public access easement and agree in the development agreement to permit events. Rasmussen said the developer had tentatively agreed to a formula for sharing sales tax revenue to fund the plaza construction. - City purchase offer: Castlewood said it was "still willing to sell that front 10 acres to the city at a pass through cost" if the city wants to control the anchor parcel, but the developer would want entitlements and a signed development agreement before a purchase. - Phasing and benchmarks: council members were told there is phasing in the draft development agreement that ties later phases of multifamily construction to commercial performance benchmarks; staff said exact benchmarks would be in the agreement and could be supplied when requested. - State and RDA constraints: the mayor and others noted state law and Redevelopment (RDA) requirements can create affordable/moderate-income housing obligations tied to incentives for large retail anchors; the mayor said such rules require cities to provide a calculated number of housing "doors" near incentivized anchors. - Planning process ahead: staff reminded the public that a formal review would require planning commission hearings, a zone change or ordinance amendment as needed, and a city council public hearing before an agreement could be approved.

Residents raised repeated concerns about the proposal's scale, building height, a proposed pedestrian connection from Anderson Farms, traffic and infrastructure capacity. Multiple commenters asked that any pathway between the new development and the Anderson Farms neighborhood be removed or gated. Hilda Panhorst, a neighborhood resident, told the council, "I think 300 doors would be a good number," while several other residents said they preferred fewer doors and three-story buildings rather than four.

Planning commission member Scott Thompson supported a planned, mixed-use vision rather than piecemeal commercial development, but he and others suggested building setbacks and reduced heights near existing homes. Developers said some buildings would be three to four stories and that certain multifamily buildings would be moved northward to increase separation from single-family homes to the south.

Traffic and infrastructure: Castlewood and staff said detailed traffic and infrastructure studies are required before entitlements and that UDOT work on 700 North had already provided signal bases at the corridor. "You will require [a traffic impact study]," the developer said, noting some intersection improvements are already planned but that a detailed study depends on later tenant commitments.

Council direction and next steps: no final action was taken on the development at the meeting. Council members asked the developer to return with updated plans, parking and traffic studies and more detail about phasing priorities and benchmarks. Several council members said the city needs to determine how many housing "doors" it will accept to move forward; one council member proposed starting discussions around 200 doors as a compromise starting point.

Vote on closed session: after the public discussion the council voted 5-0 to enter a closed session to discuss the potential purchase or sale of real property under Utah law. Council member Ben Broderick made the motion and Council member Steve Stewart seconded it. Roll call: Steve Stewart, aye; Lincoln Jacobs, aye; Jake Hoyt, aye; Carolyn Lundberg, aye; Ben Broderick, aye.

What remains unresolved: the total number of apartment units (commonly described in the meeting as the number of "doors"), the final unit mix, exact parking and traffic mitigation details, the developer's final leasing targets and whether the city will acquire the front 10 acres at the price and terms the developer described.

The city staff, developer and council agreed there will be more public hearings at the planning commission and another council hearing if the project advances to formal entitlements.