Wasatch Choice land-use update maps community growth, sets basis for 2027 transportation plan

The Wasatch Front Regional Council on May 15 unveiled a 2025 update to the Wasatch Choice Vision land-use map that reflects individual community input and new regional center boundaries, officials said.

The update, presented by Tim Watkins, community planner at the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC), consolidates results from eight regional workshops and an online mapping tool and will be used to forecast population and job growth that inform the 2027 regional transportation plan. "The land use of the Wasatch Front Choice vision reflects the framework each community has on how and where they have wanted to address growth," Watkins said during the meeting.

Why it matters: the land-use layer identifies neighborhood, city, urban and metro centers that the council says will absorb growth, enable mixed uses and support transportation choices. Watkins said the updated map looks across a 30-year horizon and will "serve as the basis to forecast future population and jobs," which staff will test against alternative transportation scenarios this summer.

Regional process and input: WFRC staff said they held eight in-person workshops across the region, plus online coordination with city planners to confirm map edits. The update includes changes where communities reclassified center types (for example, a city center to an urban center) and added or redrew boundaries where local plans or market signals warranted it. Watkins described a web-based slider comparing the adopted 2023 map and the proposed 2025 updates and encouraged elected officials and planners to review the interactive map.

Reaction from officials: Trustee Beth Holbrook, noting engagement by the private sector, said the private market's growing alignment with the region's centers "increases confidence within the private sector" and helps attract development. University of Utah planner Reid Ewing cited national research showing benefits of multi-centered regions with high-quality transit: "Vehicle miles traveled are down in centers…walking…is much higher for households living in centers and transit use is greater," he said.

Next steps and use: WFRC staff said the land-use update will be processed as a level 1 amendment to the current regional transportation plan; it will also be the starting point for a preferred transportation scenario to be tested this summer and shown to communities and the public this fall. Staff stressed the update's role as the demographic and jobs forecast input that shapes when and where transportation investments are needed.

Context and availability: staff reminded members that the map and the mapping app are publicly available and that communities still can propose future land-use updates for consideration in subsequent amendment cycles. The council also said it would accommodate special handling for more rural Morgan and Tooele counties, which follow slightly different planning timelines tied to their general plans.

Ending note: WFRC staff asked committee members to relay any follow-up questions to their planners and noted the update will feed the 2027 RTP work now underway.