Growth Summit and Workshop

Growth Summit-February 25

The public kick-off of Envision Cache Valley took place on Wednesday, Feb. 25th, at the Logan Tabernacle, with about 250 people in attendance. 

Workshops (February 26 and March 3, 4 and 5) and Online Survey (February 26-April)

In February and March, more than 1,600 Cache Valley residents participated in an ongoing conversation about anticipated growth. Ten public workshops gave citizens the opportunity to brainstorm how growth should be addressed in coming decades, while online participants expressed their priorities for the future. Their preferences will be captured in four "growth scenarios"-potential pictures of the future that address growth, including housing, transportation, conservation, and employment in different ways. Residents will reconvene in May at town hall meetings to examine and evaluate the scenarios. This input will be used to craft a draft vision for the valley.

 

What Have Cache Valley Residents Said So Far?

Voices at the Envision Cache Valley Workshops

Workshop participants created 53 unique maps, expressing their ideas about how anticipated growth should occur. The workshops and other public events are the heart of the visioning process. The goal is to capture public values and preferences in order to create a publicly generated and supported long-term vision.

 

Goals to Work Toward

Envision Cache Valley participants identified the following goals as most important to the future:

  • Maintain/improve air quality.
  • Maintain/improve water quality; conserve water.
  • Retain viable agricultural land.
  • Preserve scenic beauty.
  • Keep housing reasonably priced.
  • Create high quality jobs in Cache Valley.
  • Preserve wildlife habitat.
  • Reutilize underutilized land and buildings (infill and redevelopment).
  • Provide access to outdoor recreation.
  • Reduce drive times/alleviate traffic congestion.

Some features related to the above goals are tied to land use and can be measured across the growth scenarios, enabling citizens to compare the growth scenarios against common values.

 

Analysis (The Stories Citizens Explored)

After the workshops, the task was to understand what the public said and to identify common themes. Envision Utah staff, a local technical committee, local planners, and the project steering committee were a part of this process, helping to identify themes and to ensure transparency. They asked: What conservation, housing, employment, and transportation patterns do you see emerging across many maps? Analysis of the maps showed some striking similarities as well as some divergent ideas.

Conservation Themes

Which lands are identified for conservation?

Why are lands valued for conservation?

Areas of highest interest for long term conservation included the valley floor, the benches and mountains, areas for recreational trails, and the canyons. Participants valued the valley floor most often for agricultural reasons, followed by ecology, especially water bodies, wetlands and floodplains. Community separators were identified on the benches, and ecology and recreational values were expressed most often when mountain conservation was identified. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail was identified on 43% of the maps, and more than half of the maps that included the Highway 91 entry corridor identified viewshed conservation.

Housing and Employment Themes

Where did people explore placing new development?

What type of development did they desire-separate or mixed uses?

What development intensities did people explore?

Growth Centers

Many maps exhibited a tendency to increase density around and in existing town centers. Some maps did so primarily on the east side, creating a series of nodes from north to south, while other maps added substantial population in most existing communities, including places that are currently very small population centers. On average, participants located about two-thirds of new housing in mixed-use centers that blend a variety of housing options, services and employment opportunities. Among all development options, "town centers" were used to house the largest share, or 20%, of the population, while accounting for about 5% of the acres developed. Higher intensity employment centers tended to be distinct but adjacent to mixed-use areas. Office parks, usually adjacent to mixed-use centers, accommodated the largest share of employment.

Growth Corridors

Many maps exhibited growth along transportation corridors on either side of the valley. Some of the growth was located in centers, while other growth extended along transportation routes. Growth that didn't occur in or adjacent to centers tended to be single-use residential. On average, about 18% of the anticipated population was placed on lots ½ acre or larger. This accounted for an average of 45% of the acreage impacted by development. Most growth extending along transportation routes was development of this type.

Transportation Themes

What modes of transportation were explored?

Where were transportation enhancements identified?

Workshop participants explored a variety of transportation options, surprisingly including new or enhanced roads on 77% of maps, new or enhanced public transportation on 77% of maps, and bike commute routes on 77% of maps. Some maps explored a single mode of transportation, but many included improvements to all transportation modes. A north/south bypass appeared, in one form or another, on 62% of workshop maps, and more than half included east/west connecting corridors. Three quarters of maps included a major public transportation spine along the east side of the valley, while about half of the maps exhibited a series of transportation loops connecting the communities. Bike commute routes were employed most often to link communities to Logan and other population centers, and 40% of maps included bike routes alongside public transportation routes, illustrating a desire for "complete streets."