Kaysville council votes to revise downtown CRA plan, remove residential parcels and send map back to staff

KAYSVILLE, Utah — The Kaysville City Council voted Thursday to send the proposed Kaysville City Center Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) map back to staff for revision, directing that residential properties identified on 200 North be removed and that staff explore adding commercial areas instead.

The motion — made during deliberation on agenda item 7B and seconded by a council member — was approved by the council after several residents and council members urged changes. Mayor Tran and City Manager Jason Christensen explained the process and timeline for further public review and taxing-entity approvals.

Why it matters: Council members and residents said the map, as drafted, included several long-established homes that residents feared could be the target of redevelopment or create uncertainty about the future of their properties. Council members said the CRA’s purpose is to encourage redevelopment in commercial areas, not to change taxes or zoning for homeowners.

Residents voiced concerns at the meeting. Brian Tarbert, a resident of West Kaysville, told the council that homes on the south side of 200 North between the freeway overpass and Flint Street were not meant to be included and said the neighborhood did not appear in master-plan graphics related to the CRA. He said inclusion “was done by mistake” and warned that a blunt instrument like a CRA could “do damage.”

Another resident, Carolyn Saunders, asked whether tax-increment financing (TIF) money could be used to pay a developer to extend a creek culvert that runs through a neighbor’s yard if a property were redeveloped; council members said that level of detail would be part of future project negotiations and would be clarified if a redevelopment project were proposed.

Council response and outcome: Councilmembers said they had heard from many residents at a recent town hall and in emails. Councilmember Karianne Lisonbee moved — and the council approved — to send the CRA back to staff for reworking with the direction to exclude residences from the proposed CRA area and to look for opportunities to add or expand business districts. Mayor Tran said revised boundaries will be publicly noticed and returned to taxing entities for approval, noting the process will take additional time.

What the CRA does and does not do: City staff and council members reiterated the CRA is intended to spur economic development and redevelopment opportunities downtown; they emphasized that the designation does not itself change property taxes or zoning. Mayor Tran also said the city would be deliberate in future steps to avoid causing undue worry to homeowners.

Next steps: Staff will revise the CRA map and return it for further public notice and council action; the city will also take the revised plan to taxing entities for their approvals before any TIF or redevelopment projects move forward.