WOODS CROSS – A polygamist clan holds the key to the first major development located immediately off Legacy Parkway.

City officials have long hoped for a major retail development on the west side, including a grocery store, and it looks like those hopes may soon be a reality.

Jason Burningham, a principal with Lewis Young Robertson and Burningham, Inc., told members of the city’s Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday the timing for development along 500 South, east of Legacy appears to be right. He said it is all up to one polygamist family, the Kingstons, on whether the project will move forward.

Coalt Inc, a holding company for the Kingston family, owns almost 200 acres east of the 500 South interchange off Legacy Highway. Burningham has been working with the family and a consultant/developer to create a vision for a cohesive development in the area.

A Standard-Examiner review of property holdings in the region shows Coalt Inc. owns 24 separate parcels of property in Woods Cross, unincorporated Davis County and West Bountiful in the area around 500 South and Redwood Road.

Burningham said he hopes to have a site plan for one parcel of the property ready for review by family members, as well as a potential hotel tenant within the next two months. He described the possible hotel tenant as one that would have a facility of 60-80 rooms as well as conference space.

He said the development will feature a regional or neighborhood appeal on both sides of 500 South on 252 acres. He said one of the anchors will be a 50,000 to 60,000 square foot grocery store.

Dubbed the Legacy Gateway Development Project, the concept has drawn interest from at least two major grocery stores, some hotels as well as assorted retail clients, according to Burningham.

Working with Coalt, as well as an out-of-state consultant, officials have been shopping the area’s possibilities. Burningham said some Kingston family members went to the International Conference for Shopping Centers in Las Vegas in May where a consultant arranged meetings for them with prospective retail clients. Following the conference the family has engaged the services of a civil engineering firm.

In the meantime, other key components are falling into place.

Burningham said city action in both Woods Cross and West Bountiful to create community development agencies has been important. West Bountiful created a CDA for property north of 500 South, combined with Woods Cross to form an RDA for land immediately adjacent to 500 South and then Woods Cross has also developed its own CDA for property located in the region.

Burningham estimated the CDAs and RDA may be dealing with a tax increment of $17 million-$18 million for one area and about $10 million for another. He said the creation of CDAs has eased some tenant concerns about infrastructure in the area. He said there is also a push to extend Redwood Road north of 500 South and eventually link it to 400 North in West Bountiful at some point.

Burningham said one of the things he is concerned about is the perception officials are trying to cram a development down the throats of the Kingstons. He said he has worked with Paul Kingston to show a cohesive approach to the land, which could be a legacy of its own.

“They own lots of the property. When this (development concepts) came into this organization years and years ago I don’t think they ever envisioned they’d be encroached upon. Legacy changed that,” Burningham said.

One of the family hang-ups at the moment, according to Burningham, is the Kingstons’ appeal of a 2012 settlement with the Utah Department of Transportation over property immediately to the west of the 500 South exchange. The court ordered the state to pay $3.2 million for the land and the family is appealing that settlement.

“We are making progress. One of the frustrating things when you don’t see things going vertical is to ask ‘what’s going on?’ We’re trying to delicately get that message to the property owner,” Burningham told RDA members.

Mayor Rick Earnshaw said the appropriate development of the area near Legacy is critical.

“It’s probably one of the most important projects we’ve been involved with. We’ve been working for several years on it with all property owners. I’m excited and hopeful things will fall in place,” Earnshaw said.

Councilman David Hill thinks the right development could change some perceptions about the community.

“This could really be a focal point for Woods Cross, rather than one thinking we’re always next to a refinery,” Hill said of the city image.