Developer proposes NMU rezone, phased redevelopment and on-site affordable housing at Kimball Junction outlets

Snyderville Basin Planning Commission — At a work session on Aug. 27, the ownership group and design team for the Landmark Drive factory outlet stores presented a proposal to rezone the site to the Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU) zone and to govern future redevelopment through a multi-phase development agreement.

Justin Keyes, representing the applicant, told the commission the team had switched the application from a specially planned area development to an NMU rezone and would pair the rezone with a development agreement and phased construction plan to keep existing tenants operating while building new housing and public space. "Our intent is to meet that obligation, and that's actually the first thing we plan to build," Keyes said, referring to the workforce/affordable housing component the applicants proposed as an early phase.

Craig Elliott of Elliott Workgroup presented the design rationale, calling the outlets an opportunity to create "a village core for the West Side of Kimball Junction," and described a multipart phasing strategy: initial improvements and façade work, demolition of an upper pod to make way for stacked residential buildings (including a dedicated affordable building), townhomes, interior public spaces, and a later parking structure. The team said it would relocate some commercial from the upper lot to a lower lot and reduce total commercial square footage while increasing interior open space from about 12.4 to 14.2 acres by the team's counting.

Staff and commissioners focused discussion on two threshold issues. First, Peter (planning staff) warned that the project carries legal complexity because there are two prior development agreements associated with the property and some have expired. "The legal opinion is that the understanding is that pretty much all rules go out of the window," Peter said, explaining that the rezone would create a new entitlement framework and that staff and the applicant still need to clarify which existing uses remain vested and how affordable-housing obligations apply.

Second, commissioners and staff raised technical questions about how NMU's affordable-housing mitigation applies to a redevelopment of existing commercial area. Several commissioners noted that NMU raises the mitigation factor to 50% and ties required units to commercial full-time-equivalent (FTE) or AUE calculations, and that those calculations depend on final commercial uses. A commissioner summarized the practical challenge: NMU ties affordable-housing obligation to expected FTEs generated by commercial tenants, but in a redevelopment the ultimate commercial mix is unknown at rezoning, making the calculation complex and potentially costly.

The applicant said it was committed to producing affordable units and proposed meeting residential obligations up front and meeting NMU requirements for any new commercial as each commercial phase is constructed. The applicant also said it was already coordinating with local housing providers about potential partnerships for the affordable building.

Commissioners pressed the team for more detailed phasing diagrams and engineering-level approaches to connectivity, including grade mitigation between the outlet site and Walmart (an elevation change multiple participants estimated at roughly 30–40 feet). Presenters said they would return with diagrams showing which pedestrian portals, sidewalks and ramps are proposed in which phase, and they asked staff whether the commission wanted a follow-up meeting focusing on affordable-housing calculations and transportation impacts.

Other technical topics raised included freight and loading operations in converted pedestrian zones, shared parking approaches for mixed uses, the risk that short-term rentals could alter traffic and parking patterns if they were allowed, and the need to coordinate with UDOT, High Valley Transit and Basin Rec on trail and transit connections.

The commission did not take formal action on the rezone at the meeting. Several commissioners and staff asked the applicant to return in the next few months with: (1) a clear accounting of how Chapter 5 / NMU mitigation would be calculated for the project’s commercial and residential components; (2) more detailed, phase-specific design and connectivity diagrams showing when pedestrian portals, sidewalks, and parking solutions would be delivered; and (3) transportation analysis or coordination notes with UDOT and local transit and trail agencies. The applicant agreed to return for further review.

Next steps: staff and the applicant agreed to continue technical work on affordable-housing calculations and transportation and to bring updated materials back to the commission for additional direction.