In its quest to increase city funding without increasing the burden on residents, Herriman City has approved a land trade deal with developers, bringing it one large step closer to building an athletic complex.

“The city owns several parcels, but they’re very disparate, and some have impacted soils from Rio Tinto operations in the past,” former Councilman Steven Shields said. 

Herriman has worked with developers to orchestrate the swap without involving cash. Per city protocol, the planning commission reviewed the proposals and made a few suggested changes at the April 2 planning commission meeting. 

At this meeting, the planning department advised the planning commission that city services would be sufficient to support the increased population and that proposals are in line with “the character of surrounding neighborhoods.” A discussion of the land swap in more detail was then put on the agenda for the April 23 city council meeting, when council members voted to approve the trade of three separate parcels for one larger contiguous property, which would host the complex.

“The city didn’t own the land where the athletic complex is proposed—it was privately owned and planned for housing,” the city’s website says. “To make the complex possible, the city traded some of its land with the developer. In return, the city received the land for the proposed complex, and the developer was allowed to build homes on the city’s land instead.” 

The land deal, which is expected to be completed in June, will also clear the contaminated soil.

Still only a concept, the sports complex would provide space for local recreation and regional and national competitions. It would also aim to attract patrons from outside of Herriman to spend money at stores and restaurants within Herriman, allowing the city to collect sales tax on transactions without having to provide city services to visitors. The city would also expect the complex to attract new businesses while increasing sales for existing ones.

“The purpose of pursuing the project is to support local and regional recreational needs, stimulate business activity and help reduce long-term pressure on property taxes through increased sales and tourism tax revenue,” Herriman’s website says.

“Is this the magic bullet that solves all of the city’s economic problems? No, but it is a good step in the right direction,” Shields said.

The city also plans hotels to accommodate overnight visitors, further increasing revenue. Construction began in April for a Holiday Inn Express near Premier Pickleball and Slackwater Pizza within the Anthem commercial development. The hotel is expected to be completed sometime next year. 

Hyatt also plans to build a longer-stay facility in the Academy Village commercial development, though dates have not yet been determined. 

Two of the properties to be traded are the 29-acre “Creek Ridge Cove” property on the corner of 6400 West and Herriman Blvd., which includes 136 single-family homes, and the 2.54-acre “Big Bend Cove” property, which includes 11 single-family homes. Formerly, “Creek Ridge Cove” was envisioned as a park or sports area, and “Big Bend Cove” was considered for the site of a fire station. 

The third parcel, the 18-acre “Sorrento” property, previously called “Walker Cove,” is on the corner of 12900 South and Rosecrest Road (5600 West) and was originally planned as a public works facility. 

In January, the city council considered a proposal for 212 units for the “Sorrento” parcel, including detached homes and townhomes, but after receiving significant community feedback, council members amended the number of residences to no more than 113 detached homes. Independent of the complex, the location of a new fire station will be on the southwestern side of the “Sorrento” property. 

Unit increases for the Teton Ranch and Olympia developments will also be part of the swap, and the “Sorrento” parcel will be rezoned. 

The master development agreements for each parcel stipulate that the street arrangements must provide adequate traffic circulation through the developments, and developers must meet city architectural standards. This will undergo further scrutiny when construction begins.

Many public comments over the last few months have included concerns about density, preserving “Old Herriman,” traffic, overcrowded schools and parking.

“You look to the [east, north and] south. It’s not that dense, and all of a sudden, we’ve got this density in the middle of… Oldtown Herriman,” resident Chance Gledhill said.

However, the Utah state legislature has recently pushed for smaller lot sizes in new construction to make homes more affordable. “I think the average cost of a single-family home in Herriman is around $650,000, so anything we can do to bring that down to help people buy homes, we’ll try to accomplish that,” Herriman Director of Community Development Blake Thomas said.

Another resident, Justin Butterfield, lamented the impact on traffic. “It takes you 20 minutes to get to Bangerter right now, and it’s not just because of the construction on 134th… And now you’re going to have this many more people there in that tiny little area,” he said. 

“The city regularly monitors traffic levels on major roads and plans improvements as needed. These projects are already included in long-term plans,” Herriman’s website says.

Additionally, Jordan School District has confirmed that the number of children per household is decreasing, and the city has been advised that current schools can handle the increase.

The “Sorrento” development, for example, is expected to provide 41 elementary school students within the boundaries of Herriman Elementary, where the current enrollment is 674 with a projected enrollment of 635 for next year. Including portables, Herriman Elementary can accommodate 750 students.

Another contentious subject, parking has been carefully considered in the planning process thus far. “If the project moves forward, the city will study parking needs and use best practices from similar complexes to provide adequate capacity and minimize overflow,” the city’s website says. 

Other public concerns have included access, animal rights, erosion of public trust, infrastructure strain and safety issues. Creek Ridge area residents also expressed frustration over a planned park that will now be homes instead. The city intends to take this into account during the design process for the complex to provide green space for the area. 

“All this feedback from the residents has been a part of deliberations. It’s impacted negotiations. It has changed plans… It has frankly given us leverage in negotiations with developers to bring about better results,” Shields said. “The hard part… is that you don’t always get the decision that is best for you individually but may be better for the city overall.”

Because it lacks the resources to build the complex, the city has conferred with Salt Lake County and other organizations about funding and other issues. 

“We can’t guarantee other people’s resources to make this happen, but there’s been a lot of interest…” Shields said. “We want to make it very clear again that the athletic complex is not approved. It’s not finalized. It’s not even designed yet, but that’s the goal for this.”

Residents can offer more feedback throughout the upcoming process via public meetings and discussions, and the city encourages involvement and staying educated. For more information, see the “Proposed Southwest Athletic Complex” page on the city’s website, Herriman.gov and the April 2 Herriman City Planning Commission Meeting on YouTube.com. λ