But Michael Brodsky of Hamlet Development says the uptick wouldn’t likely be extreme.

“It’s not significant in the overall scale of what they’re experiencing today,” he said. The developer commissioned a traffic study of the area to get a gauge of the possible impact of the proposed development on roads should the plans move forward.

In fact, Brodsky said if a commercial development goes in the 4.6-acre parcel in the 4800 block of 3500 West instead, traffic — one of the key points to emerge in the debate over the plans — would likely increase four to five times with autos coming and going throughout the day. The piece of property south of Bridge Elementary, tucked between Midland Drive and 3500 West, is actually zoned for commercial development.

Development is an issue all around Weber County and beyond and the Hamlet Development plans have sparked debate in Roy, home to fewer and fewer large, developable pieces of land. “We’re getting pretty built out in Roy. We’re just running out of space,” said Roy Mayor Bob Dandoy.

Image supplied, city of Roy

The Hamlet Development plans have been the focus of two public meetings, most recently on Feb. 1. Most of those who spoke out at last week’s meeting “were really still concerned with traffic issues,” Dandoy said. “That seems to be a concern there.”

At any rate, Dandoy is expecting the Roy City Council to take up Brodsky’s request for a rezone of the property and approval of a development agreement outlining his plans on Feb. 15. The Roy Planning Commission is recommending approval and if the City Council concurs, Brodsky gets the green light to move ahead. Alpine Homes would actually handle home construction.

Dandoy, for his part, while noting the results from the Hamlet Development traffic study, can’t say for sure what sort of impact the development would have on traffic, particularly along 3500 West. At times the road resembles “a parking lot,” he said, because of all the slow-moving traffic brought on by congestion.

At the same time, the road, managed by the Utah Department of Transportation, is on the agency’s list to get widened to address growing traffic. The current plans call for the work to start in 2028, but Dandoy holds out hope the date could be moved up thanks to the $4.2 billion or so Utah’s in line to get thanks to the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Hamlet Development plans call for 13 homes on the south side of the property, adjacent to the existing single-family homes just to the south. An east-west road would cut through the property, connecting to Midland Drive and 3500 West, and 38 town homes would be built to the north, abutting the south side of the Bridge Elementary property.

“It makes a nice transition between the existing neighborhood and the school area,” Brodsky said.

Dandoy said some of the Roy residents who spoke out at the Feb. 1 meeting expressed a preference for all single-family homes on the land in question, no townhomes. Going that route, Brodsky said, would limit the number of units that could be built on the land to 18, boosting the per-unit price significantly.

Under the Hamlet Development proposal, the homes will likely go for $550,000 to $600,000 each and the town homes will go for around $400,ooo each. The properties would be sold, not rented.

Alternatively, if Hamlet were to build just the 18 homes, they would likely go for $600,000 to $700,000 each, pricing many out in what is already a tight housing market. “Our state’s in dire need of housing,” Brodsky said.