Urban design consultants at Kimley-Horn reached out to residents during the study, but city officials want more input on the final product.
Kimley-Horn produced the 50-page document available on Coalville’s website. It’s got data and action items on three things: Main Street safety, circulation and economic revitalization.
Councilmember Louise Willoughby said Coalville has scheduled an open house to break it down for residents.
“It gives a lot of information about businesses, about what the people would like to see as businesses in Coalville, how you could go about putting them in Coalville,” Willoughby told KPCW. “It offers ideas about how we could maybe make downtown a little more walkable and transportation-friendly.”
The goal with the open house is to get away from the open mic model of public hearings and encourage dialogue. Willoughby said public hearings were unproductive during the fiery debate over the Wohali resort development west of town.
South of town, there are plans for potentially thousands of homes in the Cedar Crest Village. Eastside planners are reviewing the proposal. If approved, it would be phased in over decades.
Willoughby said the village puts the Summit County seat at a crossroads.
“As people have said, ‘What's going to happen to Coalville when this happens?’” she said. “Well, I think we need to kind of take charge: we need to determine what's going to happen to Coalville.”
The council will have another work session later in April where it will bring the public’s feedback and its own to Kimley-Horn and ask for revisions to the study. After that, the study could be adopted.
Although the study has action items, they’re nonbinding.
“It hopefully will give people an idea of what Coleville could be and an idea of where we could start—maybe get an agreement on the first place to start,” Willoughby said.
The open house is April 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Coalville City Hall. Councilmember Lynn Wood said Main Street restaurants will provide a buffet.
