Proposed Redevelopment Opportunities tentatively slated for Kearns

Close your eyes - and imagine you and your family are enjoying dinner at a nice new restaurant, going to a movie and/or patronizing one of several new retail businesses located right here in Kearns. Yes, that's right Kearns.

This could be a reality if zoning and redevelopment plans proceed as recommended in a recent study completed by Wikstrom and Associates for the Salt Lake County Redevelopment Agency. With only 76 vacant and/or under utilized acres in Kearns available for development/redevelopment, the Salt Lake County Council wearing its "RDA Hat" identified several priority areas in Kearns for redevelopment and/or new development.

The Salt Lake County Redevelopment Agency completed a Preliminary Area Analysis, which assessed development, and/or redevelopment opportunities in the Kearns area. These areas include Priority Area 1 - Kearns Warehouse/Industrial Area (specifically Pipe and Tube property), Priority Area 2 - Commercial/Retail on the northwest and southwest corners of 5400 South and 4000 West Intersection, and lastly Priority Area 3 - Olympic Oval.

The RDA approved Priority Area 1 for additional study, and has hired consultant Richard Chong of Richard Chong and Associates to assess the highest and best use of the vacant and under utilized land in Kearns.

The Kearns Community Council's Economic Development Committee has facilitated two recent meetings with residents as well as land and business owners in the Kearns area to gain input on whether they support a request from Jay and Dave Anderson to change the zoning on their property, better known as Pipe and Tube. The Anderson's zoning request actually gets the ball rolling on Salt Lake County Redevelopment Agency's proposed development and redevelopment of several areas in the Kearns Township. The Andersons are requesting a change from M-1 (light manufacturing/industrial) to C-2 (commercial/retail) for their property located on the Southeast corner of the 4700 South 5600 West intersection.

"Thank you to all that have taken the time to discuss and share your thoughts on the zoning change request for the Pipe and Tube property (corner 4700 South 5600 West) as well as future redevelopment opportunities in the Kearns Township. We understand that there is both support and concerns related to the zoning change request, however due to schedule conflicts, may of you could not attend the Planning Commission meetings.

That said, it would be very helpful if you could send an email to Elli Dalrymple (edalrymple@slco.org), Salt Lake County Planning & Development Services who I have copied to share your thoughts on the zoning change request. In fact, if you know of other neighbors in the Kearns Township that have an opinion on the request, we would welcome their input via email and/or in the next weeks meeting which is scheduled for Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Thank you again for your time; it has been a pleasure to meet you and we look forward to hearing from you soon!