Alan Ashton, letter to Alan Ashton written October 7, 2015

Letter to Alan Ashton

October 7, 2015

Bill Conley
2979 Desert Forest Lane
Lehi, UT 84043

Alan C Ashton
621 S Palisades Drive
Orem, UT 84097

Dear Mr. Ashton:

I am bringing to your attention what I believe is a disastrous situation planned for the driving range at Thanksgiving Point. 

As a faithful member of the LDS Church, I am sure your intentions of donating the driving range was altruistic. What I don’t think you had in mind is what the church proposed at a Lehi City Council meeting on July 9th to a standing room audience of extremely upset neighbors. 

In the SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED filed with Utah County, the language could not be clearer: “Grantee will maintain a family search and discovery center in the building located closest to the southern border of the Property consisting of at least 6,000 square feet (actually it is around 8,000 square feet) and is open to the general public. Grantee will also maintain sufficient parking on the Property to service such center.”

You may not be aware of the church’s plans to develop ‘two proposed buildings each with approximately 120,000square feet for a total of 240,000gross square feet.” … and…  “There are a total of 767 parking stalls proposed with do not meet the 800 stalls as required by the Development Code.” In fact, the church’s original plan violated numerous sections of Chapter 28 of the Lehi Building Code.

I would like to bring just a few things to your attention:

First, constructing two massive office buildings on a driving range would be the first project of its kind in the history of a PGA caliber golf course anywhere in the US.  It will permanently alter the reputation of the golf course and massive amounts of work will be needed to rectify it. This cost will shift to those who own the golf course.

Second, it is my understanding that hole number 10 will now be converted to be the new driving range.  If this is true, extremely large nets must be erected on the east, west and south sides of the driving range to protect the cars parked at the new office buildings, the home at the south end of the driving range, the pedestrians who walk the Jordon River trail and the cars that drive on Desert Forest Lane.  This eyesore will further deteriorate the ambiance that currently exists with the green space currently known as the driving range.

Third, the increased traffic is of grave concern to all the residents who live, work, play and visit the Thanksgiving Point area.  No doubt you are aware of the traffic nightmare around the Thanksgiving Point area and if you are not, I highly recommend you drive to the golf course and try to get on the freeway in any direction during peak travel hours.  Currently, there are no office buildings west of the train tracks and that is how it should remain. There are thousands of concerned citizens who worry about the increased traffic and the safety of their neighborhoods. Getting in and out of the neighborhoods during school hours is extremely hazardous.

Lastly, this project does not make sense.  

The negative publicity this will create in the golf community will make Thanksgiving Golf Course look badly (and can’t look all that great for the church either).  There are several national golf writers who are waiting for the opportunity to write a story about how a Church was given land by a wealthy humanitarian for the creation of a massive office complex on an existing PGA caliber golf course driving range, the first of its kind anywhere in the nation and perhaps the world.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter with you further. Contact me at billhytek@hotmail.com or 801-867-7227.

Sincerely,

Bill Conley

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