The Heber City Council on Tuesday narrowly approved 66 new acres of city land and homes to be built next to U.S. Highway 40.
Three council members voted for the Fitzgerald annexation, and two voted against it. Council members who supported it said the 50 single-family houses and nearly 300 townhomes will benefit the community.
“I think what we have here is a good plan that really does match with the surrounding developments,” said Rachel Kahler, council member.
But Councilman Ryan Stack, who voted no along with Councilwoman Yvonne Barney, said it wasn’t what he envisioned there.
“This is designated as an area that’s rural-residential clusters — that’s one to two dwelling units per acre. It was designed and incorporated to be a buffer area between the segments of higher density, and for that reason I simply can’t support any upzoning of this from rural residential.”
The homes will be between the Utah Valley University-Wasatch Campus and north of the Coyote Ridge construction site. The parcel is part of hundreds of acres the city has annexed in the past year. City planners say in about a decade, that area along Highway 40 will transform from barren hills to urban centers.
In the past year, Heber City has approved several other annexations, thousands of homes and projects such as an amphitheater, parks and a church there.
As part of the Fitzgerald annexation agreement Tuesday, the developer will donate land for a new fire station.
The city council also approved an annexation west of town for the new high school the Wasatch County School District plans to build.
Footage of the meeting in full is available at heberut.gov.
