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Developers pitch mixed-use Castlewood plan for 700 North; council and neighbors press questions on height, parking and sewer capacity
Summary
Castlewood Development presented a concept for about 87,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, 338 apartments and 37 townhomes on 700 North; the council welcomed the vision but directed staff to negotiate a development agreement and flagged sewer capacity, parking, design, and neighboring concerns.
Castlewood Development told the Lindon City Council on Feb. 3 that it has a concept for the south side of 700 North that would pair a major national retailer (the applicant said a “major international box store” is under negotiation) with about 87,000 square feet of additional commercial space, roughly 338 apartments and 37 townhomes.
Developer Duane Rasmussen said the large retail anchor created the market depth needed to attract restaurants and smaller retailers and that his team has engaged national and regional leasing advisors. The concept package the developer presented shows a central one-acre town square framed by storefronts, a promenade street running east–west through the site, and multi-story residential buildings (four stories in the concept) sited to the east nearer the rail corridor. Design consultant Greg (MGBA) described flexible public-space elements — from water features to a performance pavilion — intended to support daily activity and larger community events.
City staff and council members raised several project-level issues that would require study and negotiation before any legislative approvals: the city’s wastewater system in the area has a constrained force main and pump-station capacity (Lift Station 4 and the force main between Lift Stations 4 and 7 were cited by staff) and will need upgrades if the residential count or hotel use increases demand. Staff also noted the scale of parking required for the commercial program (the developer’s materials estimated roughly 1,200 spaces for the 87,000 sq. ft. commercial component plus about 834 spaces for the large anchor) and the need to fit vehicular circulation and transit access in the corridor.
Neighbors and planning commissioners urged caution on building height and scale. Several residents from the nearby Anderson Farms subdivision told the council they are concerned about four-story buildings that would sit across a relatively short buffer from single-family homes. Neighbors also cited worries about overflow parking, pedestrian and vehicle circulation near the tracks, and how special events in the town square would be handled. One resident noted the developer proposes 1.8 parking stalls per residential unit while the city code calls for 2 stalls per unit; residents said that difference could push overflow parking into adjacent neighborhoods.
Council members broadly praised the concept’s aspiration to create a walkable, branded “town center,” and several supported advancing toward a development agreement so legal and financial trade-offs can be analyzed. Mayor Carolyn Lundberg and council members instructed staff to begin negotiations on a development agreement that would spell out core commitments (minimum commercial square footage, timing triggers, parking and design standards, and infrastructure responsibilities) and to coordinate with UTA on potential bus rapid transit needs in the rail corridor.
No legislative action was taken Monday; the applicant and city staff will return with draft development-agreement language, more-detailed elevations, and engineering studies addressing sewer capacity and parking.
