Holladay City General Plan Approaches Completion

As residents strolled through Holladay City Hall May 28 for the third public meeting about the General Plan, discussions were met with enthusiasm from Paul Allred, Community Development Director for the City of Holladay along with the Landmark Design Project Manager Mark Vlasic and team (the city’s consultant for the design). With a welcoming environment, attendees were able to view the latest updates to the plan and maps on display that promoted productive conversations, opinions and concerns about their neighborhoods.

Since the first General Plan in 2000, Holladay has incorporated and acquired three annexations over the last 14 years changing the landscape of Holladay to meet the growing demands of population, housing, economic stability and in maintaining a quality of life that Holladay residents want. With collaborative community efforts from Zion’s Bank and InterPlan and with careful guidance and consideration from the Citizen’s Advisory Committee, the General Plan is slated to be approved by the city in December 2015. 

Allred explained some of what the General Plan will do: “[The General Plan will] lay the groundwork for a better foundation and help retain a unique feel to the Village and other commercial areas, address long-term demographic change, air quality, water and energy resources … will create opportunities for new businesses and incoming residents while preserving our well-established neighborhoods and community identity.” 

Areas of discussion focused around protecting Holladay’s unique tree resources, transportation concerns, including street classifications and functionality, creating new bike routes and walking paths and specific development areas such as the Holladay Village, Cottonwood Mall, Millrock area and expanding Black Diamond – all to ensure new jobs and job retention when the General Plan is realized. There are few open areas left in Holladay but these noted areas can potentially build up and out as pockets of mixed use office, retail and moderately affordable residential dwellings.  Surprisingly, it is estimated that by 2040 there could potentially be another of 1,706 additional households in Holladay. 

The transportation section of the General Plan addresses how Holladay resident and visitors connect around the city and the land uses in the space around these areas. All modes of transportation are addressed in the plan with elements of safety, mobility and access to major transportation means revealed along with connections to trails and bike routes. The General Plan considers the transportation networks and street types which look at how different bike routes, transit, vehicles and walking paths will coexist within Holladay streets. 

As for the Cottonwood Mall plan? It may never be fully realized but the City controls the zoning and the mall’s site development master plan. Smith’s Marketplace appears to be committed to the Mall site project and will continue to work with plans as needed. If any new changes to the existing master plan are proposed, the city will conduct hearings to consider those changes and invite residents to give their input. 

The General Plan also covers information about land use for parks, recreation, trails and open space. Holladay has little available land for park development and few city-owned public parks, but residents have easy access to numerous county facilities and nearby public land with limitless recreational opportunities. Much attention has been given to park development needs and in retaining unique characteristics of the Holladay landscape. The focus for the future will be in providing more and improved bike paths and trails for city residents. 

What are the next steps for the Plan? The General Plan is moving along as scheduled. Here is the tentative calendar for the remaining months until adoption in December: The Advisory Committee is finalizing their comments on the draft in preparation for the first public hearing on the Plan which will be held on July 21 by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will likely complete their review and make a recommendation to the City Council by Labor Day or soon thereafter. Next, the Holladay City Council will begin their public hearing process as soon as possible after the Planning Commission completes their work, so that they have ample time to complete their own public hearings and deliberations and adopt the new General Plan by early December.

The public is urged to continue to be involved in the process as noted above. To access the General Plan draft, learn more about the key issues and to leave comments go to www.ldi-ut.com/holladay. You can also call Mark Vlasic, project manager or Lisa Benson, project planner, at Landmark Design by calling 801-474-3300.  Paul Allred, community development director, can be reached at 801-527-3890.