LAYTON — A bill on Capitol Hill is aiming to make it easier for Utah Transit Authority to develop transit-oriented communities near its rail stations.
Senate Bill 272, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, allows a transit agency to subordinate properties to development companies that will build transit-oriented developments on the properties.
Through contracts that will call for transit-oriented usage, UTA will still be able to encourage those developments once a developer buys the property, said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter.
“UTA isn’t a developer, and we wouldn’t act as one,” he said, “but as the owner of the property, we have an interest in encouraging a
transit-oriented environment.”
Carpenter said allowing developers to become subsidiary property owners makes it so lenders are more likely to approve loans.
“In this current economic climate, it makes it more flexible for us to partner with developers,” he said. “If there is a default, the property can be used as a collateral. It makes it a more attractive financing option.”
The bill also increases the number of members a public transit district with more than 200,000 people living within its boundaries can have on its board of trustees.
“We have a number of properties that we think are good candidates” for these developments, Carpenter said of UTA.
One of those properties is in Davis County.
UTA owns 70 acres near the Clearfield commuter rail stop. That land was once used as an automobile transfer yard for the railroad.
The transit agency wants to use the land for a transit-oriented development that would include a high-density rental-housing facility.
The development plans are still in the preliminary stages and nothing is final, UTA officials say, but a recent proposal includes a rental-housing facility of 3,100 to 3,500 units.
After a request from Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, the bill has been amended to limit the legislation initially to only five UTA properties. Beyond that, UTA would have to seek further authorization, Carpenter said.
The bill was approved unanimously Feb. 22 by the Senate Transportation and Public Utilities committee.
Comments