Draper
Hoping to expand commercial development, city leaders have created a staff position to attract retailers and restaurants.
The new economic development coordinator will be responsible for promoting Draper to companies not familiar with the city, as well as developing areas beyond the primary commercial district along 12300 South. The new retail areas are needed to keep the quickly growing city's revenue equal to its expenditures.
The city has also began to draft ordinances to encourage "lifestyle centers." These multiuse projects combine residential and commercial districts in an attempt to create more walkable neighborhoods and expand retail services. The areas the city will try to focus the centers include the east Bangerter Highway, 11400 South and Southpointe (below the hang-gliding park).
Murray
Mayor Dan Snarr has withdrawn a request for a general-obligation bond that would have funded the construction of a community recreation center.
The community recreation center will still be built, although the City Council will fund it with a higher-interest bond. Snarr estimated that a general obligation bond, which would have required a bond election, would have saved the city about $1.5 million.
During a Feb. 20 meeting, some City Council members indicated they would not support a bond election, primarily because they have the funding already approved for the community recreation center. If a bond election had failed, some council members feared they would have to choose between going against the voters and issuing the higher-interest bond or not building the community recreation center.
The money saved would have been used to build additional facilities, such as racquetball courts and an auditorium. The new center — construction could start in months — will have two swimming pools, full-size gyms and exercise rooms.
Taylorsville
A residential oasis amid urban sprawl will remain just that, a welcome relief from curbs, gutters, sidewalks and all the things that spell the end of a rural environment.
Looking at a road map where the Jordan River flows, separating Murray from Taylorsville at about 4800 South and 1130 West, there is an unpaved country lane without a name. In and around that area are about 500 residential properties where growth has taken place over the years without a master plan — haphazard development, said Mark McGrath, director of community development.
"It's just kind of a mixture of different things," he said. The city's solution was to place a six-month moratorium on building activity in the roughly 1.5-square-mile triangular area. The goal was to use the time to come up with a plan for more organized development.
"It's totally unique in Taylorsville, which is essentially just suburban sprawl," McGrath said. "But this little triangle study area is a lot different than that." Horse properties and historic homes define the area, where the only changes now, McGrath said, will reinforce its rural character.
West Valley City
The state's largest fitness facility is responding to recent media attention over health clubs that are not equipped to handle certain medical emergencies.
West Valley City Fitness Center supervisors and lifeguards, along with city firefighters, will receive training Sunday on the use of the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED), a machine that jump-starts the heart.
"Our goal is to have an AED trained staff member on duty at all times," says Nancy Day, Fitness Center manager.