Planning Commission backs rezone, concept plan for flex office/warehouse at 1780 S. State St.

The Provo City Planning Commission on March 26 recommended approval of a rezone to Planned Industrial Commercial (PIC) and the accompanying concept plan for a proposed five-tenant flex office/warehouse development at 1780 South State Street in the Spring Creek neighborhood.

Staff and the applicant framed the project as an attempt to activate a long-vacant parcel while accommodating a mix of retail, commercial and light industrial uses. Mary Bonders, the planning staff presenter, said the PIC zone is intended to “combine non-polluting light industrial uses with the more typical commercial retail, office and service uses” and that the site’s future land use map shows the property as commercial.

Staff's presentation noted neighborhood concerns raised at a February meeting about traffic near Treeside Charter School, safety during drop-off and pick-up, construction noise and proximity of industrial uses to the elementary school. Bonders said the concept plan shows required transitional buffers — a 10-foot landscaped buffer with one tree every 25 feet and supplementary hedging where the PIC zone would abut agricultural and residential land — and that the city’s traffic engineer, Vern Keesler, anticipates the proposed site circulation will function adequately and preserve school parking.

Applicant Ryan Lidke told the commission the PIC designation gives leasing flexibility if retail tenants cannot be secured immediately. Lidke said the project is intended to favor retail and service tenants near State Street with lighter warehouse or e-commerce storage in the rear, not heavy manufacturing. “I’m not putting a cabinet maker in there,” Lidke said, describing market realities and his preference for tenants that will be compatible with nearby housing and the school.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant about vehicle access and left‑turn movements on State Street. Staff and Lidke said the property has two State Street accesses and an internal north access intended to increase connectivity and, ultimately, to funnel vehicles farther north where a future signal might reduce unsafe left turns. Engineering practice, staff told commissioners, favors internal connectivity between adjacent parcels to reduce circuitous local movements.

After discussion about buffering, permitted uses in the PIC zone and the potential for future changes of ownership, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of both the zone map amendment and the concept plan. Commissioners asked the municipal council to review compatibility and to be mindful of the zone’s permitted uses when the case advances.

If the rezone and subsequent project plan are approved at later stages, the project will return with more detailed landscaping, screening and parking plans and, if required by engineering, a traffic study during the project plan phase.

Votes at a glance: Both the zone map amendment and the concept plan were recommended for approval by unanimous commission vote on March 26, 2025.

Context: The parcel is adjacent to Treeside Charter School to the west, Remington Commons residential to the north and Utah County land to the south. The applicant said the southern adjacent parcel has a different owner and could be subject to a separate project plan in the future.

What’s next: If the City Council approves the rezone, a project plan with detailed landscaping, buffering, and any required traffic analysis will be submitted for staff review and public hearings.