East Gate & Falcon Hill Development

2 recent developments underway has caught the attention of many South Weber residents, but it's not located within the city.  So why do many citizens feel it is imperative others know about it?

Falcon Hill

In early 2012, news broke of a new development on the west side of Hill Air Force Base, the beginning of what officials say "will be a bustling retail center for years to come."   The Falcon Hill Project is a 550 acre private development, built under an Air Force Enhanced Use Land Lease (EUL - military land lease of under-utilized lands to a developer for 50 years).  It will feature over 2 million square feet of commercial space in its first phase, with additional phases planned for the future.  This development will bring additional jobs, infrastructure, new buildings, roads and utilities to the Base.  Buildings that are owned by different tenants and are located outside of the gate are open to the public.  

Falcon Hill, located on the west side of the base and running adjacent to I-15 will be the largest EUL in the United States.  The project is an Aerospace Research Park both inside and outside the fence of the Base, including 10,000 square feet of retail building outside the gate.  When our county commissioners visited our city on August 27th of this year, Commissioner Lorene Kamalu described a new facility involved in the missile defense program that will bring 2500 new hires with another possible 2500 hired later.  Other reports state the public retail centers off-base will bring upwards of 10,000 jobs to the area.  

In March of 2017, ground was broken for a 21,000 square foot Utah Science Technology and Research Innovation Center (USTAR) within Falcon Hill in what is hoped to kick start high-tech companies at "Silicone Hills" - Layton City's own version of the bustling tech industry in Utah County dubbed Silicone Slopes.  Chief Operating Officer at Woodbury Corp Taylor Woodbury stated "Our goal for this new USTAR building is to be the cornerstone of the Silicone Hill movement that will help create a thriving tech community in Northern Utah."  The new facility will offer space for 15-20 start-up companies.  As the companies mature, they will move on and be replaced by other start up companies.

East Gate

East Gate, another development within HAFB, is business and research park similar to Falcon Hill adjacent to the East side of the Base.  Surrounded by 2 18 hole golf courses,  East Gate is an economic development area that focuses on aerospace research, and defense.  Included within East Gate is a business park with a 100,000 square foot high-tech industrial building for its tenant, Janicki Industries which "manufactures sophisticated aircraft parts for the military and has 66 acres on which future industrial development is planned." 

 There is also the Runway at East Gate, a 90 acre project area and runway access marketing to private businesses which will run complimentary to Falcon Hill.  While Falcon Hill will focus on research and development, East Gate will focus on manufacturing and distribution.  The Utah Air National Guard may also be relocating to The Runway as they have outgrown their current space at Salt Lake City International Airport.  

With all this growth, new residential areas will also be sprouting up, like Vistas at East Gate, a Century Home's Community which touts of a "new subdivision in the desirable east side of Layton, tucked amongst existing development in the area that continues to see substantial growth" 

Why does it matter?

Many may be wondering why South Weber residents would be concerned about these developments.  They aren't happening in our city after all.  These residents are worried about the close proximity East Gate is to us, especially to 1900 East.

If you observe our annexation map, you will see the areas that are in blue-properties we are willing to provide services for should the property owner choose to develop - butt right up against this East Gate development.  


This is in part why annexation had such a engaging conversation at our general plan.  Currently zoned at business commerce, the probability of developers wanting this property is high, especially in the coming years.  In order to develop it, they will need access to a road and utilities, most likely offered by South Weber since it sits well below in elevation to Layton City.  While this business commerce means potential to add commercial for our city, it also will mean increased traffic to our roads - a residential road nonetheless.

When a development of this magnitude and scale comes in, bringing with it thousands of jobs and industry, the surrounding areas are bound to see significant growth as well.  Some residents feel that if the 1900 E connection to Layton is materialized, it will not only mean more traffic to a road many feel is not safe or wanted, it will also create a new traffic pattern for the thousands of people now making their way throughout the base and the surrounding cities.  The East Gate Development lies just above us on the edge of Layton's border to South Weber.  Many feel that traffic congestion, compounded by the upcoming construction on Highway 89, will mean more cars will be using our road as an alternate route.  Others worry that because HAFB is such a powerful entity in our state, if 1900 is opened, it will only be a matter of time before it is expanded and enlarged to serve as another very needed entrance to the Base.  

Many will have different opinions on whether or not this is good or not for our community.  Please make sure to let our elected officials know your thoughts and comments by emailing them and filling out our next survey of our general plan.  Your voice matters.

#GetInvolved #StayInvolved

News Worthy Moments

This latest election did something that political experts said would never happen.

A write in candidate not only got voted in, but received the top votes!  And people are noticing.  In fact, we've been in the news quite a bit since our humble beginnings.  

The first major event residents put together was the Park-n-Protest.  Concerns about a new development called The Lofts at Deer Run brought this forward.  This development of 74 units on under 3 acres of ground had only one parking spot per unit.  Residents, realizing this meant that additional cars would defer to parking on 2700 E, had concerns.  South Weber residents have proven they don't sit idly by.  And so we didn't just complain about our concerns.  We demonstrated it.  

The goal was to put 74 cars on the road to show the dangers that would come with on-street parking on 2700 E.  It was very clear even just a handful of cars was a cause for concern.  The road is narrow and the line of site is limited.   But we didn't just put 74 cars on the street.  We put over 130!

Channel 2 News heard about our event.  You can read their news story here, or watch it below:




Residents Paul Sturm and Corinne Johnson pose for a photograph with the Standard Examiner.  News of the Lofts Development came about when Paul noticed some people and activity on the lot and asked what was happening.  What started as 2 concerned citizens turned into a Facebook group of more than 1,000 followers and the formation of a non-profit organization called The South Weber Preservation & Conservation Advocates (SWPCA).

The Standard Examiner also came out to show our story.  You can read their story here.

But it didn't stop there.  A petition went around and received over 1,000 signatures from people who have concerns about the Lofts Project.  In addition to that, because of what was demonstrated at the Park-n-Protest, we were able to meet with the city's public safety committee to address parking concerns.  We were able to talk about 2700 E as well as other areas in the city where on-street parking could become a safety hazard.  It was decided that a recommendation to red stripe the curb on 2700 E and other areas of the city will be done in order to keep our residents and streets safe.  You can read more about that on this blog post here. 

The next big event residents wanted to put on, sponsored by the SWPCA, was to inform citizens about a proposed road called South Bench Drive.  South Bench Drive was confusing for many people, and it was hard to understand it fully.  And so a virtual viewing tour was put together and held at our Family Activity Center.  We had over 150 people attend, many of which had never heard about this road.  The goal here was simply to inform the residents so they could get their comments, concerns and questions back to our city officials.   You can view the South Bench Drive Virtual Tour, including drone footage of our beautiful city and interviews with residents, below.  

Our next big win was when we got final numbers in for the survey results.  In the past it was considered wonderful if the city received 25 comments, this time, we got 489!

The city officials were listening - it was hard to ignore!  Changes were happening as more and more residents got involved.  Our meetings were full, sometimes needing to be changed to other locations in order to fit us all.  Our city officials were getting more emails than they were able to keep up with at times (but they did keep up with them!).  Conversations and discussions were taking place, questions were being answered and concerns were being addressed. 

 Election time got its own set of attention.   The standard examiner, learning of my write-in candidacy and that my mother was also running for office in her city (with the same concerns about over development) decided to do a story about us.   You can read more about that story here.

Election Night was a bit crazy when the Davis County Auditor and Clerk's website went down during the final countdown.  That paired with other websites recording different numbers, many South Weberites were left sitting on the edge of their seat wondering what happened.  In the morning it was determined to be a close race.  KUTV seeing the success a write-in candidate had, and that there were still votes to be counted came and did a story.




Thursday we all waited while the final ballots were counted.  Finally about 3:00 pm, results were posted.  Not only did a write-in candidate get elected, I took first place! 

#SWmorethan1000!

There was much celebration this day!! My phone was immediately blowing up with messages from people who I have worked side by side with over the last few months.  We studied the topics, we read the minutes and listened to the audio.  We asked questions, we attended every single meeting and had many additional meetings in between.  We walked the streets of South Weber to make sure every household knew what was going on and helped get them informed.   It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.  We worked so hard.  And life has taught me that sometimes hard work doesn't pay off the way you hope it will.  But this time it did.  One person summarized it perfectly, "I knew it would feel good, but I didn't realize it would feel this good!"

The governor's office heard about my win.  I was asked by State Senator Todd Weiler to have an interview on 860 AM talk radio.  You can hear that interview below.  



Right off the bat he says 

"Let me tell you I kind of am a nerd on Utah politics.  I don't think this has ever happened before.  In fact, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable, if you would've called me a couple months ago and said I'm thinking of running a write-in campaign what would your advice to me be, I would've said 'don't do it. You will lose.  Write-in candidates always lose."   

I don't write this post to boast about what happened.  I write it because if you look at everything I posted above, we were against unsurmountable odds.  'There is nothing that can be done' and 'it will never work' was something we heard a lot.  But we kept working and we kept trying.  We have been told that we would never make a difference.  Well, we did.  And we will keep making that difference.  

South Weber - please understand that as much thanks as I give to you (which is an infinite amount) I give you that much plea to keep at it.  Don't get complacent, don't get comfortable.  

Get Involved,  Stay Involved. 

I love you South Weber! You are my people!

Understanding Our Annexation Map: Why It Matters

Annexation is part of our general plan myself and many other residents didn't understand.  However, this part of our plan is important and will be coming up for discussion to some degree on for combined meeting on the 12th with the Planning Commission, City Council and Staff.  

Our Annexation Map - What is it?

You will see our annexation map included with our other general plan maps.  

The areas that are in blue are parcels that are currently in unincorporated lands, not belonging to any surrounding cities.  Should the owners decide to bring in any type of development they will need access to utilities and services. This is when annexation comes into play.  The property owner will approach the city(ies) who have their property part of their annexation plan.  It is common for neighboring cities to have the same properties on their annexation plans.  For example, many of the lands that are in blue on the south side of our city are also included in Layton City's annexation plans.  If the city chooses to annex, it is *not* buying that property.  It simply agrees to provided services (water, sewer, storm drainage, road maintenance, emergency, etc.) to that land and in exchange that whatever revenue that development brings in - be it residential or commerical - will go to that city. 

Property Owners & Annexation

Annexation will not happen unless the property owner requests it.  There are some rare cases the city can request to annex property, but none of the parcels in our situation fall under those special circumstances.     Annexation is a case by case basis, requiring formal request from the property owner, a review by the city,  and time for open public comment (possibly including open houses) before a final decision is made.  A city is not required to approve a request for annexation.  A city will review the impact said development will have.  This includes any revenue from the development (taxes) as well as the costs it will put on the city (services and utilities).    In the case that 2 cities have a property on their annexation plans, the property owner has final say of which city who chooses to annex with.

Why This Matters

The properties that are in our annexation plans will be coming into discussion at the next meeting concerning our general plan because roads and access to these properties will need to have a plan, particularly for the property that lies at the south side of our city near Layton.  The property that lies at the top of our slopes is currently in unincorporated territory.  There are several different owners to these parcels.  

The concern is that if these property owners choose to annex into South Weber, we will need to be able to provide them services and utilities, and a road for access will be required.  While South Bench Drive is looking to be a dead issue, 1900 E would still make the most sense to connect.  While some may argue we don't need or want to connect to Layton, others will argue that the amount of potential revenue that could come to South Weber should we annex these properties could be significant.  Planning for future growth is a discussion that needs to happen.  

Some of these properties will likely fall to South Weber on the basis of gravity.  Layton will not want to annex because they lie below their city.  It will cost Layton a great deal of money to pump sewage up hill for example.  Should there ever be a problem and flooding occurs, Layton will be liable for whatever flows down into South Weber.  Some have concerns that if we do not connect 1900 E we will lose the opportunity to annex.  This means that we will have no control over what development occurs because Layton will get to decide.  

These concerns, along with others I am sure will be part of the discussion of our general plan.  If you have thoughts or comments, please make sure to email them to our city officials.  We will not have the opportunity for public comment at this meeting, but we will be able to give more feedback when the general plan is opened back up to the public.   If you aren't able to make it to the meeting I will do a recap that evening.  

If you would like to learn more about annexation, I found this article helpful.

Below is the agenda for this meeting on the 12th.  It will be at Highmark at 6:00 pm.

Election Results! #SWmorethan1000!!

Was this a crazy election or what??  Between the website going down and the counting that took two days, talk about keeping us all holding our breaths!  Results are finally in and I just...guys! I'm speechless!  Thank you ALL so very much!!!  This is nothing short of AMAZING! Thank you!!

I am so honored to be able to serve the citizens of South Weber and represent YOU!  While we have all been working SO hard these last few months, I truly hope that you continue to stay involved.  I promise to do my very best to keep you informed and educated on all the issues that are coming before the city and I hope that you will promise me that you will be reaching out to us and lettings us know your thoughts and concerns.    #GetInvolvedStayInvolved