Planning commission unanimously recommends development agreement to raise Echelon project height to accommodate viable commercial ground floor

The Roy City Planning Commission on March 11 voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council approve a development agreement with Sunset Builders for the Echelon mixed-use project at 5902 South 1900 West so the project can increase its allowable overall building height to permit viable commercial ground-floor space.

Staff said the Echelon project — a mixed-use building just south of Les Schwab — has changed ownership and design several times and that current developers need additional vertical clearance to make the ground-floor commercial spaces feasible without substantially increasing construction costs. Planning staff told commissioners the project as currently approved can build to 40 feet (four stories), but engineering and mechanical requirements for retail spaces often require taller first floors; staff said the extra height the applicant seeks (staff discussed a practical need of…