Lehi approves Thanksgiving Village Stake Center after extended controversy

• Cathy Allred Daily Herald

Lehi Planning Commission members closed a two-year controversy Thursday evening when they gave final approval for an LDS Church building site on 1.3 acres of land that is currently home to a golf course driving range.

While Thanksgiving Village resident Bill Conley didn’t necessarily represent the area majority, he certainly was the most vocal about the stake center planned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 3201 N. Garden Drive, saying the city is breaking its own laws.

“If you actually read this section you would know that this is incorrect,” Conley said to the commission members, pointing out a typo in the code. He was also a stickler for word definitions.

“The architect was incorrect that the church was approved,” Conley said. “This project actually can’t move forward by code.”

He argued that Garden Drive is one foot too narrow to qualify as a street, not allowing it to be a collector, he said.

“I noticed in the application they tried to slip in that Garden Drive is a collector, which it is not,” Conley said. “You have to honor the code, and the code says there must be access to a collector.”

Community Development Director Kim Struthers turned the tables after Conley finished and sat down. Item by item, Struthers interpreted the codes Conley had cited, defining the differences between “shall” and “should” and other words key to city development codes.

Most of the neighboring residents to the project have quit attending the public hearings related to the Thanksgiving Point Golf Course driving range property because they voiced their opinion in an August 2015 meeting. At that time they said they believed the developer’s plans for a stake center and one office building, scaled back from an original plan for two office buildings, was a worthy compromise.

Thanksgiving Point founders Alan and Karen Ashton sold part of the Thanksgiving Point Golf Course property to the LDS Church, and initially church developers presented two four-story business buildings for the church-owned business FamilySearch on the total 12-acre site.

According to Conley, he submitted 61 GRAMA requests to the city requesting information on the project. He said the response he received was that the documents he was requesting didn’t exist at City Hall.

Because the documents didn’t exist meant the code was not being complied with by the developer, he said.

“This can’t go forward,” he said.

The first phase of the new project will be the FamilySearch building, a 123,000-square-foot office facility including a Family Search and Discovery Center. Commission members gave final approval for that phase on March 24.

A traffic report was completed with the first phase. The city engineers, the developer and the Utah Department of Transportation reached an agreement relative to the roadway and signal improvements that may be needed to help future traffic issues.

Thanksgiving Village resident Jodi Warner spoke Thursday about the stake center in relation to her concern about traffic on Garden Drive.

“We’re very, very concerned about the traffic,” Warner said. “I personally would love to have a stake center at this point, but I’m worried about traffic.

“Sometime I’d like to see a little foresight instead of ‘we’ll take care of it when the problem comes,’” she said.

After a short discussion, the commission members gave their unanimous final approval to the request for a conditional use permit for the second phase.

This article was written by Cathy Allred, Provo Daily Herald and appeared online May 2, 2016

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Link to article, click here

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/lehi/lehi-approves-thanksgiving-village-stake-center-after-extended-controversy/article_bf80d8db-2fbb-50ed-84be-14f2e53e8f5d.html

Here are 3 memorandums I sent to the planning commissions which in my opinion they did not read.  Each of these memorandums clearly points out violations to the Lehi City Code.  If Lehi were to follow and enforce its own code, maybe there wouldn't be so many land use projects developed in such a short period of time.

I am appealing the planning commissions approval of both the Thanksgiving Village Stake Center and Thanksgiving Point Commercial Office Building.

I believe if you actually took the time the read the 3 memorandums below CAREFULLY, you would agree that Lehi is not following code and is allowing developers to build in our city without following ALL Lehi City Code, EXACTLY AS IT IS WRITTEN, WORD FOR WORD! Chapter 28 of the Lehi City Development code says the following.

Chapter 28, section 28.060 (d) states:

“Developers and builders MUST comply with the Lehi City general plan, the Lehi City Development code and ALL other codes and ordinances of the city.” 

The development code is the LAW that builders and developers MUST follow to the letter of the code (letter of the law). Just like you and I must follow the laws set forth by the city, so do the builders and developers.  The city CANNOT choose which laws (codes) will adhere to and enforce and which laws they will ignore or mince words or play with the definition of a word in the code.  The law is the law! 

Please feel free to post a response to this post.

Memo 1

Memo 2

Memo 3

Email sent to Mayor Bert Wilson, April 29, 2016

I left a comment on the article, this is what I posted:

Bill Conley ·

Candidate for Lehi City Council at Bill Conley, Candidate for Lehi Utah City Council - Nov 2015

Chapter 28, section 28.060 (d) states:
“Developers and builders MUST comply with the Lehi City general plan, the Lehi City Development code and ALL other codes and ordinances of the city.”
Quite honestly, this is not happening in the Lehi! Not even close! The city of Lehi approves all kinds of development projects which DO NOT meet Lehi's development code (my opinion). The key word in the code above is "ALL". Not some, but "ALL". It is my opinion in this particular building project (Thanksgiving Village Stake Center) that not ALL codes and ordinances of the city were followed.
Section 09.030 of the Lehi City Code reads “The applicant has provided ALL reports, comments, and recommendations to the commission.”
According to an email I received from Marilyn Banasky they have not done that, in fact in a letter dated April 27th, 2016 and sent to me by Marilyn Banasky, she specifically states,”In some cases, the record you have requested (50 GRAMMA requests) doesn’t exist or has not yet been provided to the city.”
I hope the city is not in the business of approving applications put forth by developers where ALL the documents necessary to make a decision are not available to the reviewing departments and commissions and councils.
Bottom line, the review and approval process for land use projects in the City of Lehi MUST follow ALL Lehi city codes and ordinances EXACTLY AS THEY ARE WRITTEN, WORD FOR WORD!
Note: For those of you who have ever created a subdivsion in the city of Lehi, you know how long it takes, months/years. Would it surprise you to know the Family Search Plat (subdivision) was carved out of the Thanksigiving Point golf course (driving range/already had a use) in a few weeks AND without approval from the planning commission, city council and with NO public hearing or notice? In fact, it never went before the planning commission or city council! Gary Smith and Todd Munger signed off on the creation of the Family Search Plat even though, as far as I have researched, neither of them attended a single recorded meeting discussing the creation of the Family Search Plat. How does that make you feel? Peferential treatment for those that wanted the Family Search Plat created in record time? I believe ALL developers and builders should be obey the law (code) and I also believe that NO developer or builder should EVER receive preferential treatment!