Golden road
Text 
No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Antone Clark
Standard-Examiner correspondent
New JCPenney complex adds to Riverdale lure as a retail mecca
RIVERDALE -- If you build it, will they come?
Retailers and developers think the resounding answer along Riverdale Road in southern Weber County is yes.
The county's most dominant retail area continues to grow, despite a heavy traffic pattern that sees an average of 55,000 vehicles a day on the road. That growth is expected to continue, stretching the shopping mecca from Interstate 15 on the west to Highway 89 on the east. The road runs through Riverdale, Ogden, South Ogden and Roy.
Next month, The Boyer Co. will open a 202,000-square-foot shopping mall at 550 W. Riverdale Road, in an area that already is heavily populated with box stores and major retail outlets. JCPenney will be the anchor store in the new complex that will feature at least 11 retail stores and restaurants.
Stores that will be in the complex besides JCPenney include TJ Maxx, Famous Footwear and Maurices (owned by Dress Barn). Rumbi Island Grill is among the restaurants that will open in the retail center, said Brad Galvez, project manager for Boyer.
Not far down the road, Ken Garff Development is also moving ahead with plans to build a new Les Schwab Tires facility, plus a new Nissan dealership in the area of the old Willy's Auto. H & P Investments, owned by the brothers of Cutrubus Auto in Layton, also is moving ahead with a small strip mall in Riverdale that is expected to house at least two restaurants and an office building, said Randy Daily, planner for Riverdale.
Larry Hansen, city administrator for Riverdale, also expects some growth in the area between Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and Target, on some vacant pads, which he described as "very prime."
The development doesn't stop at the Riverdale city line. South Ogden is also looking at a project on Riverdale Road.
In an area already overflowing with stores, more retailers only add to the mix, instead of spoiling it. It's a mix that works unlike anyplace else in the county.
Commercial real estate specialist, Rob Lindsey, says Riverdale Road can absorb more stores and more traffic.
"Retailers love traffic," Lindsey said. Lindsey is manager of the Northern Utah branch of CRG. He said there is ample evidence that despite heavy traffic, Riverdale Road is not overbuilt.
"If we look at an area and there is a huge vacancy it suggests that possibly they've overbuilt. There's very little vacancy on Riverdale Road, maybe some onesies or twosies, but still little vacancy. It tells us there's no overbuild," Lindsey said.
Hansen said city officials are excited about the coming of JCPenney to the city and are continuing to look for potential developments along the corridor. He describes the city as a tale of two cities.
On the one hand, you have a bustling retail area that cuts through the center of town, on the other, you have a small municipality of 8,000 that is tucked on both sides of that corridor.
"It's two different communities. Those that live here know it differently. For us the congestion is a little different. We learn to navigate north and south, instead of east and west," Hansen said.
Hansen describes Riverdale Road as a cash cow for the city, county and state. State figures show Riverdale garnered $4.9 million in sales tax for fiscal 2006, said Charlie Roberts, public information officer for the Utah State Tax Commission.
In contrast, Washington Terrace, which has a population slightly larger than Riverdale, garnered $711,444 in sales tax revenue for the last fiscal year. Hansen claims the figures show that stores in Riverdale do more per capita than any other municipality in the state.
Ken Jones, planner for South Ogden, says city officials in his municipality are looking at a development between Chimes View Drive and 40th Street, just north of the Big 5 Sporting Goods store that he said could bring additional retailers to the busy corridor.
He declined to get specific with the plans, but said the property owner is bringing in a proposal that may require some changes in zoning on several parcels at the back end of the project.
Jones suggests it is the Utah Department of Transportation that dictates much of what happens on Riverdale Road.
"If it (the new proposal) raises issues or questions, we'll coordinate it back to UDOT," Jones said. Jones suggested UDOT is sensitive to interruption of commercial traffic.
Traffic is both a negative and positive along the corridor. Retailers love the traffic; commuters do not.
Councilman Stacey Hawes of Riverdale is one official who has voiced concerns about traffic patterns on the roadway and what additional stores may do to that pattern.
"You have to live with Riverdale Road. Others don't have a major road going through the middle of the city," Haws said.
Haws said a new signal in front of the new mall housing JCPenney could significantly alter the traffic flow on Riverdale Road. He said that most of the traffic on the roadway is from commuters, not shoppers, and the only day when traffic gets really difficult is Saturday.
Next year, in late summer or early fall, UDOT is expected to initiate a street-widening project on the roadway that could take up to 24 months, widening the road to three lanes in several areas. The Riverdale Road project begins at the intersection of State Route 126 (1900 West in Roy) and traverses the cities of Riverdale and South Ogden to the intersection of U.S. Highway 89 (Washington Boulevard) in Ogden.
UDOT studies show that traffic on Riverdale Road is currently higher than "acceptable levels of traffic congestion" and that the accident rate on the roadway is also above the state average. UDOT officials just recently hired a design engineer to take a new look at traffic numbers for the roadway, in anticipation of initiating the road-widening project.
David Adamson, UDOT project manager for the Riverdale Road project, said UDOT is trying to be sensitive to the needs of business and commuters in widening the road, but he said there is no sugar-coating the fact that traffic will be affected and businesses could feel the impact.
"One of our main goals on this project is public perception. It boils down to business and how well they are taken care of and commuters too. We can't do it without some impact," Adamson said.
Even with the hassles of traffic, Haws said he thinks there is capacity for more development along the roadway. He describes Riverdale Road as a regional hub for shoppers from the Top of Utah, southern Idaho and western Wyoming.
Hansen suggests that Riverdale's benefit in drawing shoppers does come with a heavy price.
He said besides a walkway along the Weber River on the city's northern border, there are few amenities for residents. He said the cost of public safety services for retailers is also extraordinary, for a city of 8,000.
"The majority of our money is spent on public safety. Our police force is probably three times larger than it would be for a similar size city somewhere else," Hansen said.
He said city officials wrestle with big-city problems because of Riverdale Road.
Haws said the benefit for Riverdale residents in hosting a commercial shopping bonanza is that residents have a lower tax rate because of the revenue generated by retail stores and sales tax.
Add Your Comment
