In an effort to improve a gateway point of the city, land near the corner of 11800 South and Redwood Road was rezoned which requires townhomes be built. 

The requirement comes after Riverton City’s planning commission recommended a special designation limiting the property to townhomes so it would be consistent with properties to the north and south. 

The land in question previously had three different zones with varying degrees of residential density allowed. But the proposal, from Priority Builders, rezoned the area to RM 8, meaning eight units per acre can be built. 

Robert and Virginia Baird own two properties along 11800 South and were in favor of the rezone. 

“The idea is great, it improves the whole neighborhood and it improves the city,” Virginia Baird told the Riverton City Council. 

Unanimously approved by the council, the future development can’t move forward without site plan approval, which will be a public process and couldn’t technically start until after the rezone passed. 

Council members noted the area could use improvement and were interested in ensuring that entrance to the city looked aesthetically positive. It is also a logical development to build along a major road.

“(The rezone) takes some hodgepodge pieces, brings it together and will make a cohesive community that will look good,” Councilmember Troy McDougal said.

The applicant, Scott Yermish of Prioirty Builders, was approached by a property owner along 11800 South who had tried to subdivide his lot. After finding the efforts burdensome, he asked Yermish if developing the area was an option. 

Yermish told the council they will work within whatever ramifications the city asks of them. 

“We try to be an extension of what the city would like to see in the area,” he told the council. Prioirty Builders has also built Kennedy Cove, Riverton Peaks and the Silos at Riverbend within the city. Yermish himself lives in Riverton. 

Councilmember Tish Buroker, whose district encompasses the proposed property, noted the developer already lowered the intended density from 14 units per acre to eight, appreciating the developer’s “willingness to work with us.”

Not all residents were in favor at the June 3 council meeting who spoke prior to the council’s vote. Several neighbors were worried about the possible traffic problems it could exacerbate as well as it’s effect on flood zones to their properties with Midas Creek running through the area. While they understood the area needs to be developed, they urged the council to consider their quality of life. 

The Sieberts family has lived on the east side of Redwood Road there since 1901. Shelly Sieberts said “traffic is atrocious” and asked that the density be as minimal as possible while Luke Sieberts noted FEMA mapping brings their flood lines right up to his property. If it’s pushed any further, they would have to get flood insurance, he said. 

Noah Dixon lives east of the property off Redwood Road as well, having lived there nine years. He said they moved in before the “Riverton boom” as the city grew and worried the quality of life will diminish as more people could affect their cost of living, property values, traffic and flood insurance. 

“Riverton it’s a quaint town, it has a unique personality to it and the quality of life there, you don’t get that everywhere,” he said. 

Yermish noted they will do a traffic study through a third party and make recommendations to UDOT, who is responsible for Redwood Road and any mitigating factors. Riverton shares ownership of 11800 South with South Jordan and would be responsible there. 

Access points into the development were undetermined but Yermish and city officials hoped to mitigate that by funneling to specific roads and not having multiple entrances. 

Development is not often eyed favorably, Yermish said, but noted previous completed projects in the city where they did everything the city asked of them. 

City officials said Salt Lake County regulates how much water gets discharged into Midas Creek and felt it was unlikely to have much effect. 

Though council members all voted in favor of the rezone, some stressed the importance to vigilantly watch the flood lines.

“We can’t be doing development here that requires people downstream to purchase flood insurance for the rest of their life,” Councilmember Spencer Haymond said. “Doing something here just to throw flood insurance at people down the road is not the right thing to do.” λ