It's only natural for people to resist changes in their way of life. And it's regrettable when traditional rural living falls victim to the forces of urban sprawl.
But long-time Riverton residents must surely recognize that their community is not an island immune to the growth swallowing up buildable land along the Wasatch Front. Utah's population growth — most of it homegrown — needs some place to call home. Developers want to provide some high-density options along the western ridge of Riverton. That is not sitting well with long-time Riverton residents who had previous assurances from a former assistant city manager that the city would do its best not to permit high density housing if it annexed the Western Springs area.
Two observations are relevant here. The first is that city officials should not make open-ended pledges. The second is that the Western Springs development appears to be well-conceived and offers some "smart growth" concessions to the community.
Developers plan to create a 190-unit condominium complex, a 200-unit apartment building and single family homes. They plan to dedicate space for commercial development. The developer would give Riverton 21 acres to set aside for the Legacy Highway corridor; space for a 30-acre regional park and two 10-acre parks, plus a trail system in exchange for the city agreeing to the high-density housing. On Tuesday night, after exhaustive study, the Riverton City Council approved the plans.
Longtime Riverton residents should not consider this decision the death knell of rural living. Hard as they want to cling to the past, the growth will surely come. Riverton, however, is in the enviable position of managing the growth of its community wisely. Unlike other suburbs that exploded in development overnight, Riverton will have the ability to step back and study what has worked and what hasn't worked in other municipalities and sculpt its community accordingly.
If a city follows a planning vision, growth doesn't necessarily become sprawl. While cities need commercial and retail development to sweeten their tax bases, there are ways to achieve that without a community becoming an endless string of strip malls with big box retailers on every corner.
No, life in what used to be considered rural Salt Lake County isn't what it used to be. But Riverton leaders and residents must exploit this unique opportunity to plan a model community.