A development plan currently before the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission would bring a grocery store, liquor store, affordable housing and childcare facilities to Silver Creek.
Columbus Pacific developer and Silver Creek resident Tony Tyler calls it the Crossroads at Silver Creek. He hopes to build on the northwest corner where Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 40 intersect.
He has committed to donating land to a nonprofit for the construction of a childcare facility at the junction. As far as a grocery store goes, he told KPCW Columbus Pacific is considering a few different grocers but has not had substantive talks with any of them yet.
Since an initial meeting with the planning commission March 28, Tyler has used planning commissioners’ feedback to amend his plans.
That includes cutting out 30,000 square feet of commercial uses. He said the priority is businesses people use most often.
“Part of the [planning commission’s] concern about scale was the replacement of uses that you may only go once or twice a month to Kimball Junction for, and those uses may not belong in this location,” Tyler said.
Think hair salons and other businesses people don’t use as frequently as a grocery store.
“We looked at the uses that were left specifically, and tried to identify the ones that we thought would be most compelling, most often, for most people,” he said.
The zoning Tyler is seeking, neighborhood mixed-use, requires him to make at least half of the units affordable housing. Right now, the plan appears to include slightly more than required.
Commission Chair John Kucera said he liked including more affordable housing in the proposal, as well as cutting some of the other square footage and density.
“I think those are steps that are certainly headed in the right direction, from my perspective, and not as transformative in terms of the neighborhood, where this is going to be a massive change,” he said. “And I'm sure there will be more public comment than there was today.”
The planning commission’s meeting with Tyler on Tuesday was a work session, although public input was accepted.
One of the things he said he wants input on is height because there are tradeoffs.
Neighborhood mixed-use zoning allows building heights of 45 feet. Nothing in the plan is that tall yet; most of the buildings are two stories.
Tyler said he wants clarity on which direction he should go because making buildings taller reduces the development’s footprint, which could be valuable.
“It gives more usable ground space for something else, whether it's parking, which might give us more park-and-ride options from a transit hub perspective,” he said. “Or if it's simple open space.”
The Crossroads at Summit will continue to go back before the planning commission until it schedules a day to submit a recommendation to the Summit County Council, which will have the final say on rezoning the area for neighborhood mixed-use.
