Heber City Council could greenlight airport construction after years-long ban

The city council could lift a 2019 ban on construction at the airport. The reason for the ban was to prevent projects until a major plan for airport upgrades became final.

Since then, the Federal Aviation Administration has conditionally approved the plan, which includes a new, wider runway southwest from its current position and farther from the highway, with wider safety buffer zones.

Heber City Manager Matt Brower said the step will clear the way for a project that’s been on hold.

“There is a key hangar project that has been on the sidelines now for well over a year, year-and-a-half, that has had to wait. Now that the council will rescind that resolution, that project will be able to complete its due diligence and probably be approved,” he said.

That project is separate from the newly approved plan, which was the subject of years of city review and public meetings.

The airport won’t immediately begin construction on any of those upgrades. Brower said the city will next spend 18 months planning and designing them in more detail.

In early 2023, Brower and design consultants suggested the current runway could last another 20 years and the FAA may prefer to delay construction to take advantage of its maximum lifespan.

The council will vote whether to lift the building moratorium at its regular meeting Tuesday. The council can also elect to continue to block construction in two areas of the airport, where the fuel and service operator OK3 Air may choose to develop. Brower said the city agreed to do so in a recent settlement with OK3 Air.

Also at the meeting, the council will consider a developer’s third request to annex land into Heber City limits to build apartments, townhomes and commercial space.

The land is adjacent to the Utah Valley University Wasatch Campus, near where the council has annexed other parcels and approved thousands of homes to be built in recent years.

Wright Development Group most recently proposed building roughly 200 townhomes and 25 apartments on an 18-acre parcel of land.

Another topic on this week’s agenda, a design for a band shell at Main Street Park.

The city sees it as an upgrade from the concert stage at Main Street Park where bands play every Thursday of summer at Market on Main.

“I think the architects have done a great job of tying it into the Daughters of Utah Pioneers building, which sits just kitty-corner,” he said. “I think it's going to look historically accurate, it will be architecturally pleasing, and I think it'd be a great amenity to the park.”

A proposed layout design shows the new additions at the park would be built around the existing band stage and playground.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Heber City Hall, 75 North Main Street.

The full agenda and a link to attend the meeting via Zoom are available at heberut.gov.