CENTERVILLE— last June city officials have been working to update Centerville’s general plan. In November they devoted a city council work session to study the issue, and in January and February they held  special council meetings on the subject.

The city has hired Psomas, a South Jordan engineering consulting firm, to help them with the process. On Nov. 19 Psomas representative Chris Hupp shared what they had done so far and feedback they had gathered at community events. It’s clear the community is concerned that Centerville’s cultural heritage be maintained, he said. He went on to address land usage, especially in the east and west sections of the city.  He also outlined proposed changes to Centerville’s historic walking and biking routes and identified gaps in park service areas. He detailed opportunities to bridge these gaps by adding prominent open spaces on the west side and creating urbanized outdoor areas. Hupp also outlined potential routes for a bus rapid transit (BRT) system. 

The Jan. 14 meeting was largely devoted to hearing the thoughts of city council members on addressing Centerville’s future.  

“We face a big problem land use wise, and we know that we’re running out of land,” Mayor Clark Wilkinson said.  “No matter what we do we’re going to run out of housing if you look at continued population growth.”

“We can’t think that this general plan that we’re going to finish in April is going to be a living, working document 40 years from now because we can’t envision what’s going to happen,” he said later.

At that meeting City Councilmember Spencer Summerhays gave a presentation on his perspective.

“We have certain principles that guide us in Centerville that we have talked about,” he said. “We are a community that focuses on family, connections, friendships, but then we’re also a community that’s responsible and accountable.”

Summerhays supports what he calls “a graduated continuity” with various compatible densities in the city. Centerville must allow future development to accommodate local growth, he said.

“We as a city shouldn’t expect other communities to provide housing for population growth that we cause by our own reproductive and family choices,” he said.

 In the discussions it was clear there was a tension between wanting to keep the small-town flavor of Centerville and needing to provide more housing stock to address growth and to comply with laws passed by the legislature to encourage Wasatch Front communities to address those needs through somewhat higher density housing.

“Managing our growth isn’t just a theoretical exercise; it’s a real genuine, serious, practical issue that we need to address as policy makers,” Summerhays said. 

Providing affordable housing, which is mostly unavailable in Centerville, should also be a priority, he said. Using city employees as an example, Summerhays ran the numbers and determined that “there are only six units for sale in Centerville that our average city employee can afford based off of those income measures,” he said.

Affordable housing was an issue for some other council members.

“As a parent of adult children who are now looking to buy homes, and I still have an 8-year-old at home, my biggest worry for them is home ownership,” Councilmember Gina Hirst said.

Summerhays went on to suggest various locations within the city where infill housing might be possible especially in areas with historic deep lots, along with suggesting city leaders consider the city’s west side (west of I-15) for somewhat denser housing development. While some of his peers on the council seemed to support that west-side development, others worried this would isolate those who moved there from the greater community and from the services and amenities needed.

Careful planning could mitigate that possibility, Hupp said. 

“In order to preserve the character and culture, if we leave the east side predominantly alone and focus on that west side you accomplish the state’s requirements and you still give place for lower income homes,” he said. “If you don’t redevelop the industrial you will not fix the problem. The reason is because if you start to add more residents and more community and allow property ownership on the west side it becomes a community part of Centerville. If you leave in an island and you just continue the industrial they will stay forever.”

Councilmember Robyn Mecham cautioned her peers on the council not to move too fast and too far from the traditional Centerville feel as they develop the general plan. 

“I can tell you that if you change this drastically all that will happen is the next election you’re going to have all super, super, super conservatives come in and they’re going to change it back lower than what it is today,” she said.

The discussion ended without fully addressing these conflicting concerns. 

City officials are asking the public to complete a short survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V92YYLF to provide feedback on what their priorities are for the city as they update the general plan. More information on the plan is available on the city’s homepage.