CENTERVILLE -- A group of residents say they will file a lawsuit if the City Council and Redevelopment Agency approve final site plans Tuesday night for a corporate office center without making any modifications.
RDA and City Council members are voting at a 7 p.m. meeting on whether to give final approval on the sale of RDA property and building plans for Ogden-based Management and Training Corp., which operates prisons and job training programs. The company intends to locate its national headquarters on 400 West and Parrish Lane.The deal has been met with a series of roadblocks and has had little public support, but after last week's final public hearing on the proposal, where both the city and MTC made compromises on the architecture and landscaping of the corporate park plans, City Manager Steve Thacker said he thought residents were beginning to see the benefits of the corporate center.
He said he thought the deal had finally made it over a "hump" and that the rest of the process would likely go smoothly.
But David Putnam of Save Our Parks says the changes aren't enough, and that MTC should stick to city building requirements instead of being allowed to get a conditional use permit, which allows for greater leniency in building codes.
Putnam said Save Our Parks would deliver a memo Tuesday to the City Council and Planning Commission outlining a list of changes the group would like to see MTC make. Those changes include:
Limiting the buildings to three stories instead of the proposed four.
Building a parking terrace.
Building only two structures instead of three.
Modifying the look of the buildings by adding Farmington granite to the exterior.
Changing the main entrances and exits of the center to help alleviate traffic problems.
They would also like the city to conduct a socioeconomic study to determine other impacts the center would have.
Assistant City Manager Blaine Lutz says although he can't predict what Tuesday night's outcome will be, city officials seem very comfortable with the the changes that have already been made and think most issues have been sufficiently addressed.
Lutz says he thinks a lawsuit would have no merit, but he would not be surprised if one were filed.
"If they insist on going forward with the plans they have now, we will go to court," Putnam said. "Who knows? We may set a precedent in Utah that these redevelopment agencies are answerable to the people."
Putnam says the lawsuit would be based on challenging the city's negligence in protecting the over-all welfare and safety of citizens, which he says would be in danger if the corporate center is built.
In March, Putnam filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the sale of the property, but the suit was later dropped. In April, he filed an appeal challenging the procedure of the land subdivision process and demanding the city give 15 days public notice for public meetings. Although Centerville's lawyers said the appeal had no basis, the process was restarted to avoid a court battle.
City officials say the land where the old city offices and baseball diamonds now stand should be developed for tax revenue purposes and to add to the gateway of the city, and that MTC provides less traffic impact than any other commercial development.
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