Let’s take a look at the items that sparked the most debate.

But first, one thing the City Council did during its regular meeting on Tuesday 8/25:

✅ PASSED NEW NIGHTTIME LIGHTING RULES

Reducing light pollution and making neighborhoods safer are the goals of these new rules. They only apply to new construction OR when you replace an entire outdoor light fixture (not just the bulb). In those cases, the light fixtures need to be “fully-shielded” so the light is forced downward and use “warmer” colored bulbs. There are now stricter brightness limits for electronic billboards at night and an exception for “holiday lighting” on people’s houses. There’s also a 10 p.m. curfew when holiday lights need to be turned off.

But the Council also noted they’ll have to come back and define “holiday lights” more clearly in City Code because lots of people have LED lights up on their houses year-round, not just the holidays. The Council seems to want to allow those lights, but also make sure they’re not creating a nuisance for neighbors.

Now, on to the Planning Commission:

Here are the four items that sparked the most debate during the 8/26 meeting. (All were approved.)

✅ 50 TOWNHOMES ON THE HILLSIDE ABOVE ALASKA AVE

The neighbors who live below this proposed new subdivision of townhomes (208 S. Montana Ave) are very worried about a lot of things. But mainly: having their hillside views and sunlight blocked by 3-story townhomes; experiencing landslides or floods because of the construction; being inundated with cars parking on their already-crowded streets. The City Public Works and Planning Departments say the developers have covered all their bases to ensure the construction preserves as much sensitive hillside as possible and will be structurally sound. And because this project was in the works long before the City Council banned new streets narrower than 30-feet-wide, the developers will be allowed to make their private road between the townhomes 28-feet-wide (with parking only on one side).

The Planning Commission deliberated on this one quite a bit and echoed many of the concerns the neighbors raised. Ultimately, they determined the Project Plan met City Code and approved it unanimously (5-0).

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“Where I’m struggling on this is I don’t think I would approve a zone change to create this development, but it does meet requirements for a project plan,” said Planning Commissioner Jonathon Hill.

✅ 103 NEW WEST PROVO TOWNHOMES - INCLUDING SOME AT “AFFORDABLE RENTS”

Ivory Homes is slowly building out a large, planned community called “Broadview Shores” on the West side of Provo north of Provo High School. Each time they start a new phase, they have to get Planning Commission approval for the layout of the lots, parking and landscaping (this is called the Project Plan). The four new phases Ivory plans to begin building will include 103 new townhomes and 14 single-family homes of various sizes. Also, interestingly, Brad Mackay of Ivory said 40 of the townhomes will initially be owned by the Ivory Foundation and rented to people making between 60% and 120% of the area median income. Mackay said the rental units will be subsidized privately through the foundation at no cost to taxpayers.

The rest of the new townhomes (and all the new single-family homes in these phases) will be for sale.

The Planning Commission liked the “diversity of housing types” in the development and unanimously approved (5-0) the four new Project Plans for Broadview Shores. They’re all in Village 4 on this following map:

👀OF NOTE: Mackay also added that Ivory has been holding off construction of Village 7 on the plan because they’re still hoping to attract a grocery store to the area.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“We tried Smith’s and they’re not interested. I think we’ll have more interest as Lakeview Parkways extends north through Orem, but right now we’ve tried to attract everyone we can to build a grocery store there and haven’t been successful,” said Ivory’s Brad Mackay.

✅ WYMOUNT TERRACE REBUILD AND PARKING EXCEPTION

Planning Commission agreed to BYU’s plan to tear down 354 apartments in the southern half of Wymount Terrace and build 456 new units in that spot. The new apartments will have 2 and 3 bedrooms - which is larger than Wymount has typically offered. Much of the Planning Commission’s discussion was focused on whether to allow BYU to provide 1.5 parking stalls per apartment instead of the 2.25 stalls required in Provo City Code. BYU staff argued that Wymount Terrace typically has plenty of open parking spots overnight, is close to UVX and campus and fenced off from neighborhood street parking. BYU staff also committed that if parking were to become a problem, they would give residents access to other nearby BYU parking lots.

Planning Commission unanimously (5-0) approved the Project Plan and parking exception.

✅ OK FOR NEW SHERWOOD HILLS HOME

Hal Clark and Tamara Jones have owned this vacant lot at 1065 E Hillside Circle for 20 years and now they’re ready to build on it. But the situation on the ground has changed a bit since they bought it: there’s been a landslide in the next cul-de-sac over and problems with broken water lines and construction mishaps that have caused expensive problems for neighbors. There’s also the City’s new “hillside overlay” that requires special approval to cut into sensitive or steep areas in Provo’s foothills. The 3,450 sq ft home that Clark and Jones want to build will require cutting into the hillside some, and while their immediate neighbors are supportive, several others in the area are worried it might trigger settling and land instability. City engineers reviewed the plans and say the home can be built safely. The Planning Commission was torn, but ultimately felt it wouldn’t be fair to prevent the landowners from building a home of similar size and quality to the others on the block, since they bought the land long before the City’s hillside overlay law was created.

Planning Commission voted 4-1 (Temple opposed) to grant an exception (variance) to the hillside overlay ordinance so the home can be built.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“I personally want to see them build and see it succeed. I think they’ve done their homework and I believe it’s gonna be okay,” said Nicole Van Orman who lives next door to the vacant lot.

Here’s what Council members want to see in the next draft.

NOTE: The Development Agreement is a legal contract between Provo City and Vesper that will be attached to the Council’s decision to rezone the property.

City Attorney Brian Jones says the Council has an obligation to carefully review any proposal a developer brings to the table, whether Council members like the project or not. And Jones said this about the Development Agreement on Tuesday:

“A lot of the public perception of the Development Agreement has focused around once they (Vesper) screw up how do we use the Development Agreement to claw them back? But in actuality, the development agreement is about the guidelines the (City Planning Department) will use to approve the permitting applications before they build. So if (Vesper) is not in compliance with the Development Agreement, they’re not going to get to build or screw up.”

Read the most recent draft of the Development Agreement here.

1️⃣ Make 20,000 attendees a firm cap.

Council members wondered if Vesper was planning to offer grass seating in addition to the 20,000 seats they plan to build. Vesper’s Bayles said, “No.” The 20,000-seat cap is a total cap on attendees and they’ll make that clear in the Development Agreement.

2️⃣ Add more specifics about what can be built on the site.

Vesper is asking the City Council to rezone 100 acres of gravel pit and open space at the mouth of Provo Canyon to SC3 (Regional Shopping Center Zone). The Development Agreement limits what Vesper can build on the site to the amphitheater, 75-room hotel, parking and “ancillary” food/beverage/concert merch sales/restrooms/support activities. The agreement also caps those “ancillary” uses at 150,000 sq ft. The Council wants the “ancillary” uses spelled out more clearly and the square footage cap broken into two categories: food/beverage/merch and operations support/restrooms/infrastructure.

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“You’re asking for a cap of 150,000 sq ft - the Riverwoods Shopping Center is 180,000 sq feet. If you’re not building a mall, why would you need a little less space than a Riverwoods?” said Councilor Becky Bogdin (District 3).

“Under the current agreement, you could theoretically have a Riverwoods of restaurants and bars up to 150,000 sq ft on that site?” said Councilor Jeff Whitlock (District 2).

“We’ve heard loud and clear that people are very concerned about this turning into a mall. That is not our intent” said Vesper’s Bryan Bayles.

3️⃣ Clarify the hotel and restaurant can’t operate if the amphitheater isn’t built.

The Development Agreement requires the Vesper team to lay the footings for the amphitheater within 3 years and complete construction within 7 years. The Vesper team has said the hotel and restaurant might be operating before the amphitheater is complete. The Council wants to make sure Vesper can’t abandon its plans for the amphitheater partway through the project and just build the hotel and shops.

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“I don’t want us to end up with a hotel and a restaurant and parking lots at the foot of the canyon and never get the amphitheater,” said Councilor Travis Hoban (District 4).

“Just building the infrastructure to get one drop of water to the Vesper site will be so expensive that this project can’t work with just the hotel and restaurant. It’s a package. We can make that explicit in the Development Agreement,” said Vesper’s Bryan Bayles.

4️⃣ Make sure the parking is minimally visible from the highway.

Vesper plans to build a parking garage for about 3,000 cars on the western end of the site. The Development Agreement limits the building height to 50 ft (3 stories), so they’ll have to put a few floors underground. The Development Agreement also caps surface parking at 15 acres, but Vesper expects they may need even more than that to reach the approximately 5,100 parking spots City Code will require for a venue this size.

So, they want the ability to dig down under some of that surface parking and make those lots double-decker. The City Council does not want the entire Vesper site to look like a giant parking lot from the road - and Bayles says the Vesper team doesn’t want that either. The Development Agreement requires the parking garage to be integrated into the topography of the site and “visually softened” through design, grading, landscaping and screening.

The City Council wants the Development Agreement to state that the parking garage must be set back 100 feet from the highway and that, if they make any of the surface parking two levels, it can only be 5 feet aboveground. (Picture a split-level lot with one parking level below grade and another partially above grade.)

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“As we go into the canyon, I don’t want to see acres of parking garages. I don’t think any of us do,” said Councilor Craig Christensen (District 1).

5️⃣ No flashy electronic sign.

This issue got suddenly quite sticky during the Work Meeting. Vesper’s Bayles said they are counting on having an electronic sign out front. But several City Council members were adamant that an electronic sign won’t do. It was unclear during the meeting what Provo’s code allows when it comes to electronic signs in the canyon. Bayles said he thought Vesper could come up with an understated “low-key” sign that would meet their needs and fit the feel of the canyon. The Council asked the Vesper team to propose a solution in the next draft of the Development Agreement.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“We’ll need a sign to advertise who the performers are. That’s something that’s really, really important to us,” said Vesper’s Bryan Bayles.

“You’ve heard our concerns. No colors and bright lights. I want the venue to be successful, but I don’t want it to look like Vegas,” said Councilor Craig Christensen (District 1)

6️⃣ Get a better handle on the noise limits.

The Development Agreement requires Vesper to “use commercially reasonable efforts” to incorporate the latest noise-mitigation technologies so they reduce the impact of sound and noise “to the extent reasonably practicable.” That wording is too vague for some members of the City Council. Vesper’s Bayles said they can’t commit to specific decibel limits until they do a full sound study (which he says is expensive and would be complete 8-9 months after the Council approves the rezone). Everyone agreed that Vesper will need some kind of exception to the City’s noise ordinance. The question is who will approve that? Some loud events/venues have an exception written into city ordinance (BYU Football Games) and others get a one-off exception from the mayor’s office (Rooftop Concerts).

The City Council wants the next Development Agreement to require that Vesper come to them with a plan to reduce noise (and sound vibrations) and get that exception formally approved before the amphitheater opens.

7️⃣ Move the event curfew up an hour.

Councilor Katrice MacKay wants Vesper to commit to ending events at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. That’s an hour earlier than the event curfew established in the current Development Agreement and Vesper’s Bayles was clear he didn’t want to change that. The Council asked for the earlier curfew to be in the next version of the Development Agreement they see.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“I’ve been to hundreds, if not thousands of concerts, and they’ve never gone past 11 p.m.,” said Councilor Katrice MacKay (Citywide 1).

8️⃣ Show clear examples of Vesper aesthetic.

The Development Agreement says that Vesper must use “natural” materials and design the buildings “in a manner generally consistent with a high-quality canyon-integrated destination environment.” The Council wants the Development Agreement to include specific images and examples to make very clear what is and is not acceptable.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“Everything you (Vesper) have talked about sounds great - it’s very ‘Sundance.’ But this (vague wording) doesn’t do it for me,” said Councilor Craig Christensen (District 1).

9️⃣ Be clear about the intent to seek public financing.

The Development Agreement says Vesper can request economic incentives and tax rebates from the City Council to help cover infrastructure costs (water, sewer, stormwater, roads). The agreement doesn’t guarantee the City Council will grant those - it only says Vesper is welcome to ask. Councilor Becky Bogdin (District 3) wanted that section removed to avoid giving the impression the City Council is planning to grant incentives to Vesper.

But Vesper’s Bayles says they put that section in the Development Agreement because they want to be transparent about their intent to ask for incentives. After hearing that, the majority of Council members seemed inclined to leave that section in the Development Agreement.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“We will be asking for a PID (public infrastructure district) and a TIF (tax increment financing) and we didn’t want that to be a surprise,” said Vesper’s Bryan Bayles.

See my other posts on the Vesper Amphitheater:

(Most of the Council’s meeting will be Vesper-related, which you can read about in my last post.) 👇

There’s only one item on the City Council’s Regular Meeting Agenda at 5:30 p.m.

➡️New Outdoor Lighting Rules for Provo

Councilors MacKay (Citywide 1), Whitlock (District 2) and Christensen (District 1) are proposing that Provo adopt “Dark Sky” laws to cut back on light pollution. The new rules would only apply to new construction OR when the entire fixture of an outdoor light (ie. porch light, security light) is replaced. In those cases, the light fixtures need to be “fully-shielded” so the light is forced downward and use “warmer” colored bulbs.

There will also be stricter brightness limits for electronic billboards at night and exceptions for holiday lighting. But Councilor Becky Bogdin (District 3) notes that it’s now popular to have LED lights on your house all the time - not just the holidays - and she’d like to make sure that would still be allowed under these new rules.

City Council will review and take a vote during the 5:30 p.m. meeting. Attend in person and give a 2-minute comment or email council@provo.gov.

The Planning Commission will look at a bunch of new and continuing developments. Read the full agenda here.

And here’s a summary:

➡️BYU Wants to Redevelop Wymount Terrace, Offer Fewer Parking Spots

BYU plans to add 102 new 2- and 3-bedroom apartments to the southern half of Wymount Terrace (900 E. and University Parkway), which is married student housing. The university is also looking for permission to provide 1.5 parking stalls per unit rather than the 2.25 stalls required by city code. They say parking has not historically been an issue at Wymount. A count of cars parked overnight in Wymount on March 26, 2026 found 125 empty parking stalls. BYU also notes the units are close to a UVX bus stop and the Creamery on 9th which now has expanded grocery options. And because of the fence around Wymount Terrace, residents are unlikely to park on neighborhood streets outside of the complex.

This parking reduction request was already underway before the City Council’s recent decision to revoke the Planning Commission’s power to grant these kinds of exemptions.

Planning Commission has final authority to approve the Project Plan and parking exemption. This will not go to the City Council.

➡️More New Homes in Lakeview Fields on Geneva Road

This is another swath of land in the “Lakeview Fields” subdivision off Geneva Road. The city General Plan includes a special zoning designation for this subdivision to allow for single-family homes on smaller lots. That’s the zoning this property owner is seeking in order to build 16 homes on five acres.

Planning Commission will make a recommendation to City Council, which has final say on zone changes.

➡️New Home in Sherwood Hills

The owners of 0.27 acres of vacant land at 1065 E. Hillside Circle plan to build a home. But, because it’s on the East Bench with a slope of 30% or greater, the property owners need approval from the Planning Commission to cut into the hillside.

Planning Commission has final authority to grant permission. This will not go to the City Council.

➡️Riverbottoms Rezone to Allow a Home Addition

The owners of a house at 267 W. 4020 N. want to build an addition, but they need some more land for it. So they’re proposing to acquire it from their neighbors at 3998 N. 300 W. But that would leave the neighbors with a lot that’s smaller than the minimum size required in the R1.10 residential zone. So, this is a request to rezone that one house to R1.8 so it can have a smaller lot than others in the neighborhood and the folks next door can build an addition on their home.

Planning Commission will make a recommendation to City Council, which has final say on zone changes.

➡️14 New Homes and 103 Townhomes Near Provo High

Ivory Homes is looking for a greenlight on “Project Plans” to start building the next four phases of “Broadview Shores” north of Provo High. This subdivision was approved by the City Council in 2009. These phases are on the northeast side of the development near Geneva Road and 1800 N. In total, the plans for these phases call for 103 new townhomes and 14 single-family homes. The entire subdivision is subject to a “Development Agreement” with the City (also made in 2009) that requires all of the units to be occupied by a single family and limits the number of vehicles residents can park.

See the development agreement on page 191 of the City Council’s 10/6/2009 meeting minutes here.

Planning Commission has final authority to approve the Project Plans. This will not go to the City Council.

➡️50 Townhomes on Montana Ave in Southeast Provo

Next Level Homes wants to build 50 townhomes with shared common space on a currently vacant parcel located at approximately 2085 S Montana Avenue. The “Project Plan” shows a mix of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom townhomes with garages. Most have 3 floors above ground. Some have basement bonus rooms.

Technically this area is zoned R1.6 for single-family homes, but it also has two zoning “overlays” (Performance Development and Critical Hillside) which allow tighter clustering of units to protect more of the hillside. So that means townhomes allowed here, so long as there are not more than 6 units per building and the development preserves at least 10% of the property as open space. City Planning Department staff say this proposal complies with the code.

Planning Commission has final authority to approve the Project Plans. This will not go to the City Council.

The Vesper item will start at approximately 1:45 p.m.

• Watch it live on YouTube, and Facebook Live or in-person broadcast into Council Chambers at City Hall.

• Send public comment to council@provo.gov. In-person public comment not permitted during Work Meetings.

The City Council has THREE BIG DECISIONS to make about Vesper:

1. Should the City sell/swap 66 acres next to the gravel pit to the Vesper development?

2. Should the City rezone the gravel pit and the city land to allow the Vesper development?

3. If the City rezones the land, what restrictions should be in the legal contract (Development Agreement) with Vesper?

Here’s what you need to know about each one.

QUESTION #1: Should the City sell/swap 66 acres of Provo City land for Vesper?

Vesper wants 66 acres of Provo City land (currently zoned PF - public facilities and OSPR - Open Space, Preservation, Recreation) that sit right next to the existing gravel pit. But Vesper only plans to build on half of the Provo City land and once everything is built, they will revegetate the undeveloped land (about 33 acres) they got from the City and place it into a conservation easement with a 3rd party organization so that it can never be sold or developed in the future.

Several Council members questioned why the City would sell all 66 acres if roughly half will ultimately become open space again. Vesper says acquiring the entire parcel allows it to revegetate the disturbed land and place it in a conservation easement at no cost to the City.

So, what will Provo get for the land it sells to Vesper? Currently the Vesper team is proposing a land swap, rather than a sale. And during the 8/11/26 Council Work Meeting, Vesper’s Brian Bayles showed this slide indicating about 40 acres in the Vivian Park area of the Provo Canyon that Vesper is offering to swap.

But Councilor Becky Bogdin (District 3) said that land seems pretty steep and inaccessible and wanted the Parks and Recreation department to weigh in on whether a swap would actually benefit the City and be an acceptable swap.

QUESTION #2: Should the City rezone the land to allow for the Vesper Development?

This is the City Council’s main leverage point. If the Council refuses to rezone the property from its current uses (Mining, Public Facilities and Open Space) Vesper can’t happen. Based on the questions they’ve asked so far, here are some key things they’re weighing.

Does the project offer enough benefit to Provo to justify rezoning the land?

At the City Council’s request, Vesper commissioned Piper Sandler to analyze the project's economic impact. That report (see pg 264: Agenda Packet) says:

• The cost to build the entire Vesper project will be more than $540 million, increasing the total assessed value of property in Provo by 4.9%. (Provo School District would be the primary beneficiary of those increased property tax revenues.)

• Provo would see $2.3 million in new net revenue (from its cut of property and sales taxes) coming into its general fund every year once Vesper is operating.

• Once the amphitheater, hotel and restaurant are fully operational, there will be 947 new jobs. Vesper projects 285 of those will be full time, with 131 of those full-time workers being salaried employees.

City Council has also asked a lot of questions around how much access the public will have to the new trails Vesper says it will build connecting the Bonneville Shoreline and Provo River Parkway. That includes bike and pedestrian pathways on the bridge Vesper proposes to build over the highway. Vesper says it will allow free public access to the trails at all times and free parking for trail use when there are no events happening at the amphitheater. “During events, Vesper will provide appropriate safety and security patrols on the on-site trail system and bridge before, during, and after events.” (see page 323: Agenda Packet)

Can Provo Canyon handle the traffic?

This is a big one and it’s a top concern in the hundreds of public comments the City has received.

Vesper projects 90% of attendees will come from the Provo side of the canyon and 10% from the Heber direction. They expect an average of 3.5 passengers per vehicle and that 38% of attendees will arrive within 1 hour of the event start time. A series of road loops on the Vesper property will allow 1,000 cars to queue up as they’re entering or leaving the site. After events, cars will enter the highway two at a time with a signal like you see during rush hour in I-15 entrances.

Bayles told the City Council on 8/11 they’re hoping to get away with building just 4,200 parking stalls on-site - 3000 in parking structure (3 stories above ground and several stories below) and 1,200 surface parking. If they need more than that, they’ll dig down under the surface lots and add more underground parking.

They also plan to offer some remote park-and-shuttle options, as well as shuttles from Frontrunner stops. And Bayles mentioned charging people more to park on site if they don’t carpool.

All told, Vesper estimates that during a maximum capacity event, amphitheater traffic will add a 5 to 12 minute delay to roads in the area (US-189, University Ave. and 800 N.)

But that also relies on getting a major overhaul to the 800 N. intersection at the mouth of the canyon, which is already backed up during rush hour and on holiday weekends. Since those are state roads, UDOT’s responsible for fixing that. Vesper is proposing to cover some of those costs in order to make that happen. Bayles says they won’t have exact details on that until the rezone is approved for the project and Vesper can submit an application to UDOT. The City Council is hoping for stronger assurance that UDOT will not let Vesper make a nightmare of traffic at the mouth of the canyon.

Can Provo Canyon handle the environmental impact of Vesper?

Provo River is a major concern for the council. Stormwater runoff from the Vesper site (during construction and after it’s operational) will dump into the river. Vesper says it will capture runoff from rainstorms and treat it to remove sediment, particulates, oils and “other pollutants commonly associated with developed sites” before releasing it into the river. (See page 322: Agenda Packet)

The Utah Department of Wildlife Resources reviewed the Vesper plan and says “habitat loss and impacts to wildlife will be minimal” since most of the land is already disturbed by gravel pit operations.

But what about noise? DWR says “large concerts can generate levels peaking at 90-100 decibels.” But, the approximately 35,000 vehicles per day on US-189 produce a “near-constant 80 decibles of sound” already. So “given the baseline sound from the highway, it is unclear whether occasional events at the amphitheater would cause any significant additional impacts on local wildlife.” (See page 328: Agenda Packet)

Are there enough safeguards in place to make sure Provo doesn’t regret the decision?

This is where the Development Agreement comes in. It’s a contract between Provo and Vesper that attaches to the City Council’s rezone decision. The City can enforce it through the courts.

QUESTION #3: What restrictions should be in the Development Agreement with Vesper?

Here’s what’s currently in the agreement. (Read it here.)

Size and Activities:

• Amphitheater capacity is capped at 20,000 indoor/outdoor seats total (cannot offer extra lawn seating or standing room capacity to exceed the cap)

• Hotel size is capped at 75 rooms

• Additional restaurant and hospitality space limited to 150,000 sq ft

• Total parking stalls capped at 8,000

• Surface parking is capped at 15 acres

• Building height is capped at 3 stories (50 feet), except for the fly loft and rigging above the stage which can go up to 125 ft.

• Requires a deed restriction recorded with Utah County to ensure nothing beyond the amphitheater, hotel, parking, restaurant and hospitality uses that support the amphitheater can happen on the site, even if it’s sold to a new owner someday.

Open space and trails:

• Half of the 66 acres Vesper hopes to acquire from Provo City must remain undeveloped. Once the amphitheater is built Vesper will revegetate that 33 undeveloped acres, improve public trails on it and place it into a conservation easement that will prevent it from ever being developed in the future.

• The Conservation Easement on that undeveloped 33 acres will be held by a 3rd party that specializes in open space preservation.

Traffic and Roads:

• Before large-scale public amphitheater operations can begin, Vesper must submit and obtain all required City and agency approvals for a traffic and parking operations plan.

• On-site roads will be Vesper’s responsibility to maintain and plow.

• Vesper will reimburse Provo City for police, fire and emergency services that are required during large events.

• The event specific traffic management plans will require coordination with, and approval by, UDOT.

Noise, light and aesthetics:

• Outdoor events will end by 12 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 p.m. all other days.

• Project lighting must be designed to be “Dark Sky compliant to the extent reasonably possible.”

• Signs must be limited in scale and character and compatible with the canyon environment.

• Buildings and parking garage must be integrated into the topography of the hillside and use natural materials and landscaping so they blend in as much as possible.

• Vesper must use “commercially reasonable efforts to incorporate current and evolving sound-attenuation and noise-mitigation technologies into the design and operation” of the amphitheater. Specifics to be refined and evaluated by the City during later stages of project approval by the Planning Department and Planning Commission.

Timelines and clawbacks:

• Construction must begin within 3 years of closing on the acquisition of the City property.

• Construction must be “substantially complete” within 7 years of closing on the City property. (“Substantially complete” means the amphitheater, parking and hotel are finished and at least 75% of the commercial uses are complete.)

• If Vesper fails to meet either the start or completion deadlines, the City Council can rezone the property back to what it was before (gravel pit, Open Space, Public Facilities)

• If Vesper tries to sell the project to a new developer before it’s complete, Provo City has to give its approval first.

Here’s what they recommended the City Council do with 5 items.

HOW I WROTE THIS: I attended the meeting in-person. I took lots of notes - I type very fast! I went back through my notes and summarized the key points from each debate - I try to be concise, but also add some helpful context. I reference the materials in the Agenda Packet to verify details and check the YouTube recording when I need to verify a quote. I request the slides from the Planning Department so I can include screenshots of those.

⭐ I do not use AI to summarize the meetings or write these posts.

If you want to know more about WHY I’m doing this, check out my new “About” Page.

❌ DENY: 33 Townhomes Just North of BYU Stadium

This deliberation took the bulk of the Commission’s meeting and drew several dozen members of the public who live near the proposed subdivision. Tyson “Rob” Reynolds originally (last year) got 4 acres at 2000 N Canyon Road rezoned for single family homes. Now he wants that land zoned “Low Density Residential” because he told the Planning Commission he realized he’d have to sell those 19 single family homes for about $1.5 million and he didn’t think anyone would want to buy a house that expensive when it’s surrounded by apartment buildings and condos so close to campus. So he’s back with a plan for 33 twin homes and townhomes that would be smaller and less expensive (though still in the $750k range) that he thinks will be more marketable and a better fit for the neighborhood. Some residents in the single-family neighborhood to the East of the property and condo-owners to the North strongly disagree.

Planning Commission voted 4-2 (Metzger and Temple voting “No”) to recommend the City Council DENY the rezone request.

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“I’m all for people having property rights but what about the rights of people who own property who’ve already been there for a long time?” said neighborhood resident Pam Jones.

“I would prefer to see the developer build the single family homes (he originally planned) with ADUs (which are allowed in this zone) so they families would be better able to afford the homes,” said Commissioner Melissa Kendall.

“Looking at the surrounding development, the townhome plan strikes me as more compatible than single family homes,” said Commissioner Joel Temple.

✅ APPROVE: New Rules for Building Along the Provo River

The City Council put a pause on approving new development along the Provo River a several months ago in order to come up with some standards for what can be built within 100 feet of the river. They want to make sure that, where possible, the river remains a public asset. These new rules outright prohibit some types of developments along the river: warehouses, manufacturing, auto repair shops, gas stations, car washes, dry cleaners, drive-throughs and data centers. Other provisions limit the height of new buildings along the river at various distances and prohibit parking lots from facing the river or dumpsters from being visible from the river. There’s also a bunch of stuff in the ordinance about maintaining public access to the river and improving amenities along the river like adding benches. The changes will only apply to NEW development (not existing buildings or homes).

Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend the City Council APPROVE the new design standards.

✅ APPROVE: Mixed Townhome/Storefront Development on Geneva Rd

There’s an old cabinet shop and a home behind it further into the block at 113 and 191 N Geneva Road. This is just north of Center Street and the City has zoned that corner to encourage commercial development (like a grocery store, which the West side is desperate for). Last year the owners of these two parcels applied to build 26 townhomes with some of those units having live/work spaces on the ground floor. The Planning Commission recommended denial because the city’s strong priority for this area is to see more commercial development. So now the owners (and their developer Jared Morgan) are back with a “mixed-use” plan that puts 18 townhomes inside the block and 4 commercial suites in the front facing Geneva Road. (CORRECTED: previous version said “8” townhomes. I left off the 1 in an editing error.) Those suites would be a good fit for small retail stores or hair salons or other neighborhood services.

Several planning commissioners had concerns about whether the storefronts would really be used as public-facing retail rather than storage space or private offices. They also worried that the townhomes would be cut off from the neighborhood to the north by a retaining wall and not very well integrated with whatever businesses come next to the south toward Center Street. But ultimately, they agreed the plan aligns with the City’s zoning vision for that area.

Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend the City Council APPROVE the rezone request.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“We’re kind of the first pancake off the griddle from a retail standpoint (in this area where the City is hoping to attract more retail) so fingers crossed that we’ll be absorbed well,” developer Jared Morgan.

✅ APPROVE: Total Rewrite of Provo City Zoning Code

Nothing changes policy-wise in the new code - but it does include a few things the City Council has requested, like the new detached ADU rules I mentioned in this post. Otherwise, this update is mostly to consolidate, simplify and streamline Provo’s zoning ordinance. It’s 35% shorter (but still hundreds of pages, so don’t go thinking you can skim it in a few minutes).

Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend the City Council APPROVE the revised ordinance.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“A lot of the zoning code of Provo City has existed for decades. It’s been fixed and repaired with amendments and band-aids and a lot of it is redundant or no longer used. We’ve been needing this for a while, so it’s been great to go through it closely so we could get it to something that can be easily used by the public, city staff and developers,” said Provo City Planner Aaron Ardmore.

✅ APPROVE: Flex-Warehouses in Vacant Lot on 820 N.

These new buildings will be flexible office/warehouse space for up to 7 different tenants (but the developer expects most will be leased by just one company). The site is 1.5 acres and it’s already zoned for this use, so the Planning Commission was reviewing the actual site plan for the project at 1722 W. 820 N. (The City Council doesn’t vote on plans for projects that fit existing zoning.) Commissioners were enthusiastic about the prospect of something finally going in this spot and not needing to carve into the base of Grandview Hill. (NOTE: I accidentally left the 1 off the address when I originally posted this. It’s corrected now!)

Planning Commission voted 6-0 to APPROVE the Project Plan, so the developer can begin getting building permits.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“I’m from here and used to go by that site a lot growing up and I always thought it would never be developed in my lifetime,” said Planning Commissioner Tosh Metzger.

VESPER AMPHITHEATER: I’ll have a separate post on what we learned from the Council’s 1.5 hours with the Vesper team during their Work Meeting on Tuesday. They didn’t take any votes, just asked a lot of questions. We know for certain the Council won’t vote on it until at least September (and maybe later).

This is another long one, so here’s what we’re covering today (in case you want to jump ahead)!

🛑Incentives for New Super Walmart Delayed

🛑12 “Tuscanel” Townhomes Not Ready Yet

🫤“Springville Rising” Gets a Mixed “Yes”

✅Council Reclaims Sole Power to Grant Parking Exceptions

✅$13,500 Incentive Payment to Day’s Market

✅New Executive Director for Provo City Council

✅Parks and Sidewalks ADA Improvement Plan

✅Lakeview Fields Rezone Approved

✅BYU Gets Urban Deer Control Plan

✅New Residency Requirement for Boards and Commissions

🛑INCENTIVES FOR NEW SUPER WALMART DELAYED

The documents for the $4 million sales tax rebate incentive weren’t ready for a vote last night, so this one has been “continued” - maybe to the next Council meeting? TBD. This is the proposed Walmart and fuel center on Lakeview Parkway just west of I-15. Is that South Provo? West Provo? Southwest Provo? People feel pretty strongly about how I describe this Walmart, so let’s just agree that when I talk about the New Walmart it’s this one?

🛑12 “TUSCANEL” TOWNHOMES IN JOAQUIN NOT READY YET

The City Council heard about an hour’s worth of comment from the public (both for and against) before deciding to postpone a decision. Briefly, the owners of two parcels at 313 E. 200 N. want to tear down the pioneer homes there and build 12 townhomes (3-stories) with garages. Councilors Whipple, Whitlock and MacKay all said they were “torn” on this project because it would create more homeownership opportunities and the developer is promising to add a restriction to the townhome deeds requiring them to be owner-occupied “in perpetuity.” But that’s tricky for the city to actually enforce. The biggest sticking point is that the Joaquin Neighborhood Plan (forged over years of negotiation between neighbors and the City) draws a line down 500 N. and is clear about keeping the higher-density development north of that line while preserving the historic, single-family character to the south.

The Council ultimately voted unanimously (7-0) to postpone a decision on rezoning the land to give the owner/developer a chance to get more neighborhood support and possibly come up with a design that looks “more Provo and less Italian.” When/whether this comes back to Council for a vote will depend on the developer making that request.

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“These homes are intended for households looking to establish roots and invest in the neighborhood,” Tuscanel developer/property owner Taryn Melissa Elkins.

“There was a democratic process to make this (Joaquin Neighborhood) plan. That creates a social contract and I don’t think you just throw that away. I don’t think it’s okay to spot zone for higher-density in any neighborhood. This could very easily be turned into four very nice homes (without changing the zoning) instead of 12. I understand the developer’s motivation to optimize. But to bring this into a neighborhood where we have agreements in place - imperfect as they are - I can’t support that,” said Councilor Craig Christensen (District 1).

“Right now our neighborhood program and City Council, frankly, are structured to protect a small property-owning minority instead of the people who actually live in our community (who are largely renters). I have to recognize that most of my constituency - and this is my district - are renters. They have no stability. No way of building wealth by having equity in a home. I’m supportive of this (Tuscanel Townhomes) even though many of my good friends are speaking against this project. I understand their concerns but I recognize that there are different competing concerns and I think this project serves that higher need (to provide more home ownership opportunities). And with making these homeowner-occupied in perpetuity, this is a way to stabilize the neighborhood,” said Councilor Rachel Whipple (District 5).

🫤“SPRINGVILLE RISING” GETS A MIXED “YES”

If 60 percent of this new development (including ALL the housing) is on the Provo side, shouldn’t it be called something else? Like Proville? Or Springvo? Those were joking suggestions during the debate, but they point to the most serious concern the City Council has about this development: Is Springville getting a better deal that Provo in the tax-sharing agreement?

The City Council unanimously approved the rezoning and overall concept for the 31-acre development Clyde Companies is proposing to straddle the boundary between Provo and Springville. It calls for 257 townhomes and condos on the Provo side that will all be for sale and most will be permanently restricted to owner-occupancy (no rentals). The Springville side will be all retail and office space, which is more lucrative tax-wise. BUT, the City Council sent back the tax-sharing deal. They want it to last for 30-50 years instead of just 15 years. They also want it to account for more of the maintenance expenses that Provo will face by adding hundreds of new families to the city’s roads, parks and utility infrastructure.

Now the ball is in Springville’s court to decide if they will accept Provo’s amendments. (We’re kind of in that stage of a home-buying deal where offers and counter-offers go back and forth. Stay tuned.)

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“I love this and want to make it happen… But I personally think this is a better deal for Springville right now,” said Councilor Jeff Whitlock (District 2).

“I also am encouraged by this project. It has great I-15 access from 1400 North, which is an underutilized freeway exit. To see life in this part of our city will be great,” said Council Gary Garrett (Citywide 2).

✅COUNCIL RECLAIMS SOLE POWER TO GRANT PARKING EXCEPTIONS

From now on, any developer who wants to provide fewer parking spaces than Provo’s code requires for a new project will have to get permission from the City Council, rather than the Planning Commission or City Planning Staff. Passed with a vote of 6-1 (Councilor Whipple voted “no” because she thinks this will make it even harder for developers to create new housing in Provo.)

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“I personally am interested in this change because I think it’ll help us as a Council grapple with this challenge (of parking) more. If this ends up becoming something where maybe we never see these proposals I think that would be unfortunate. I hope we do and we try to get better data about this. What percentage of students own cars? What percentage do but would not if they could get around without one?” said Councilor Jeff Whitlock (District 2).

✅$13,500 INCENTIVE PAYMENT TO DAY’S MARKET

When Day’s Market remodeled in 2019, Provo City agreed to refund a portion of the increased sales taxes the store collected to help pay for the renovations. The deal goes until 2029 or the total payout reaches $100k. Provo Economic Development Director Cody Hill says Day’s is on track to hit that ceiling next year (which would be a few years early) because sales tax collections at the East-side neighborhood grocer are up 111% (adjusted for inflation) since the renovation in 2019.

Council approved the latest payment installation unanimously (and enthusiastically on the part of Citywide Councilmember Katrice MacKay who lives near Day’s and shops there regularly).

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“I love to see a small neighborhood grocer be so successful and I hope we can get more of them in Provo,” said Councilor Jeff Whitlock (District 2).

✅NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR PROVO CITY COUNCIL

Ezra Nair has been hired to run the City Council’s office. He was previously City Manager of Vineyard and a Utah County Administrator. Justin Harrison held the position for four years until leaving recently to move to Clark County, Nevada (where he grew up and worked before coming to Provo).

✅PARKS AND SIDEWALKS ADA IMPROVEMENT PLAN

The Council unanimously adopted a transition plan by the Public Works Department to bring all of the city’s parks and sidewalks into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. But the actual fixes will happen over time as funding becomes available. City Attorney Brian Jones said having a plan like this is a federal requirement, so the City needed to get it in place. But it doesn’t tie the City to a specific timeline or funding obligations. And it can be revised as-needed.

✅LAKEVIEW FIELDS REZONE APPROVED

Jay Henrie initially tried to build twin homes on this property at 1804 North Geneva Road he bought six years ago with the intent to develop it. The City Council rejected that, so he came back with this plan for single-family homes that aligns with the City’s General Plan, but requires smaller lots than the current residential zoning allows. The City Council unanimously approved the rezone. Henrie plans to build 33 homes on lots just shy of a fifth of an acre. That matches the zoning of subdivisions going in to the north of Henrie’s land.

✅BYU GETS URBAN DEER CONTROL PLAN

There was little council debate - and zero public comment - about this item at the meeting. Essentially BYU asked the City of Provo to make an application to the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources for an Urban Deer Control Plan on its campus. The City is the applicant. BYU takes on all the legal liability and will follow the strict guidelines established by the DWR. The deer with be trapped and euthanized during the month of August only (for the next several years) and the carcasses donated to private citizens. BYU Director of Buildings and Grounds Greg Hooke says there are about 60 deer living permanently on campus and they’re becoming unhealthy because of inbreeding. They also harm landscaping and cause safety problems. “We’re just looking to thin out the heard,” said Hooke. Councilor Whitlock asked if relocating the deer was an option and Hooke said DWR doesn’t allow relocation because of the risk that urban deer spread disease (like chronic wasting disease) to wild deer.

✅NEW RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

Currently many of Provo’s citizen committees (ie. Parks and Rec, Landmarks, Energy Board) do not require members to actually be Provo residents. The Council unanimously passed a rule changing that.

HOW I WROTE THIS: I watched the YouTube video of the Work Meeting and attended the Regular Meeting in-person. I took lots of notes - I type very fast! I went back through my notes and summarized the key points from each debate - I try to be concise, but also add some helpful context. I reference the materials in the Agenda Packet to verify details and check the YouTube recording when I need to verify a quote.

⭐ I do not use AI to summarize the meetings or write these posts.

If you want to know more about WHY I’m doing this, check out my new “About” Page.

If you missed my preview of this week’s City Council meeting, read it here (with document links fixed):

Now let’s look at what the Planning Commission is up to:

➡️NEW RULES FOR BUILDING ALONG THE PROVO RIVER

For the last 6 months the City Council and Provo Planning Department have been working on a plan to establish guidelines for building along the Provo River. The draft ordinance prohibits warehouses, manufacturing, auto repair shops, gas stations, car washes, dry cleaners, drive-throughs and data centers from being built along the Provo River. There are other provisions that limit the height of new buildings along the river at various distances and prohibit parking lots from facing the river or dumpsters from being visible from the river. There’s also a bunch of stuff in the ordinance about maintaining public access to the river and improving amenities along the river like adding benches. I’m just scratching the surface here. Read the full proposed ordinance on pages 9-17 of the Planning Commission agenda packet.

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council, which has final say on adopting the new zoning rules.

➡️REZONE REQUEST FOR MORE DENSITY JUST NORTH OF THE STADIUM

Developer Tyson Reynolds is asking the city to rezone 4 acres just north of Lavell Edwards Stadium (2000 N. Canyon Road) so he can build 9 townhomes and 22 twin homes. The land is currently zoned for single family homes and the neighborhood would prefer it stay that way. They’re worried about the twin homes and townhomes becoming over-occupied student housing and adding additional traffic to Canyon Road. The developer says single-family homes won’t work practically (the layout and slopes on the land) and financially (won’t be able to sell the homes for enough to make the development profitable). The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council, which has final say on zoning changes.

➡️GENEVA ROAD MIXED-USED PROPOSAL

The Planning Commission will review and make a recommendation on rezoning some commercial land (113 and 191 N Geneva Rd.) to allow a mix of housing and businesses just north of Center Street on Geneva Road. This is across the street from the big apartment development underway on the land where West-siders once hoped to have a Smith’s Grocery. That plan fell apart and the City has been pretty intent on trying to preserve other commercial options at that intersection. Which is why last year the City rejected a plan to rezone 113 and 191 N. Geneva Road to allow for 25 townhomes. Now the developer is back with a “mixed use” proposal that includes 18 townhomes and four commercial suites suited to small business and storefronts. This latest proposal hasn’t gone to a Neighborhood Meeting for feedback yet. If you have thoughts email dspublichearings@provo.gov.

➡️TOTAL REWRITE OF PROVO CITY ZONING CODE

In 2023, the City Council approved funding to hire a consultant who would work with the Provo Development Services Department to revise the city’s “cumbersome,” “outdated” zoning ordinance. The edits are now ready for Planning Commission review - and ultimately City Council approval/denial. The staff report says “no substantial policy changes were made” with this new zoning code. It’s all been about simplifying, standardizing and adding flexibility so that it’s easier to understand and implement. If you’re curious, you’ll find the entire new draft on pages 108-539 of the agenda packet.

➡️NEW FLEX OFFICE/WAREHOUSE SPACE ACROSS FROM FREEDOM PREP ON 820 N.

Bret Nelson wants to build two new warehouse/office buildings at 1722 West 820 North (right across from Freedom Prep on 820 N.) The new buildings will be divided into seven “flex” units for different tenants or one to use the entire space. This property is already zoned for “Manufacturing Parks” and this development would fit that criteria. So the City Council won’t need to weigh in on this one. The Planning Commission will just decide if the Project Plan meets the code requirements.

UPDATE on 8/10/26: The City Council updated their Agenda Packets today and broke the previous links to documents. I’ve fixed them now. But if they break again, just go to the Agenda Packets and scroll to the item you’re interested in.

Hey Provo! 👋The City Council meets on Tuesday, Aug. 11 and I guarantee there’s at least ONE thing on the agenda you want to know about.

This is a long post, so HERE’S WHAT I’M COVERING, in case you want to jump ahead:

🛒Westside Walmart Tax Incentives

💲Provo/Springville Subdivision and Tax-Sharing Deal

🏘️ Tuscanel Townhome Plan for Joaquin Neighborhood

🏘️ Lakeview Fields Subdivision on Geneva Road

♿ Making Provo Parks and Sidewalks ADA Accessible

🦌 BYU Plan to Kill Deer on Campus

🚗 Changes to Parking Reduction Process for Developers

💡Possible Changes to Outdoor Lighting Laws

🎵 New Details in the Vesper Amphitheater Development Agreement

HOW I WROTE THIS: I spent several hours studying the agenda packets for the City Council meetings and reviewing my notes from past meetings where these items came up. Then I summarized a few key details and added some context like I would if I were explaining it to you in a quick conversation. Why? So you can quickly decide if you should attend the meeting or send an email to the City Council (council@provo.gov).

⭐ I do not use AI to tell me what’s in the agendas or write these posts.

7 THINGS THE CITY COUNCIL IS SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON THIS TUESDAY:

🛒WALMART TAX INCENTIVES: It looks like developer Foulger Pratt and the City are finally ready to lock in an incentives deal to get the Super Walmart and Fuel Center built on the corner of Lakeview Parkway and I-15 in Southwest Provo. The developers have abandoned (for now) their plans to build hundreds of rental townhomes next to the Walmart and are just looking to get the store built. The draft agreement the City Council will consider calls for letting Walmart keep half of Provo’s portion of the new sales taxes the store generates until that payout hits $4 million total. This is called a “tax increment incentive” (TIF) and it’s a common thing cities do to attract new business. It’s also not always popular for big box stores like Walmart, because not all of the sales taxes it generates will actually be “new” - they’ll just shifted to Walmart from other stores in Provo where people used to shop. Read the draft agreement here.

💲PROVO/SPRINGVILLE DEVELOPMENT AND TAX-SHARING DEAL: “Springville Rising” is the name of this proposed 31-acre subdivision, but most of it is actually in Provo (21.62 acres). Clyde Companies wants Provo to rezone nearly all of that from the current “light industrial” use to a medium density residential zone, which allows for housing but is less economically beneficial to the city (in terms of taxes and jobs). The Provo land would have 257 townhomes and condos - all for sale and required to be owner-occupied for the first 2 years.

Meanwhile Springville’s part of the development is about 9 acres and all of it will be retail and office space - which is way more lucrative, tax-wise, for a city. So to make things fair, Provo and Springville would make a deal to calculate their total revenues from the development (both property and sales taxes) every year and subtract what they spent providing fire and police services. Then, whichever city has the higher number will split that “net benefit” evenly with the other city. Unless something really wacky happens with the local economy, Springville will usually come out ahead and Provo will get a cut of that revenue each year until 2043.

On Tuesday, the City Council will be voting on both the rezone for the whole project (including a development agreement with Clyde) AND the revenue-sharing deal with Springville.

🏘️TUSCANEL TOWNHOMES IN CENTRAL PROVO: This plan for 12 townhomes in the Joaquin Neighborhood (313 E. 200 N.) is not supported by the neighbors and the Planning Commission recommended the City Council deny it. The plan would raze two pioneer-era homes (one is currently a triplex) and rezone from “Residential Conservation” to “High Density Residential.” But the Joaquin Neighborhood Plan (developed several years ago through extensive consultation between the City and neighborhood residents) calls for preserving the historic, single-family character of this area. Neighbors say the Tuscanel project is too tall, too dense and too likely to become more single-student rental housing. The landowners are offering to sign a development agreement that will limit them to just the 12 units at 3-stories high with a deed restriction that requires all the units be occupied by the owner for one year. They argue that there are several apartment buildings already on the surrounding blocks and that these 12 townhomes will offer much-needed homeownership opportunities.

🏘️LAKEVIEW FIELDS SUBDIVISION ON GENEVA ROAD: Jay Henrie wants to build 33-35 single-family homes for sale on Geneva Road just south of 2000 S. in West Provo. There was no public comment for or against Henrie’s proposal at the Planning Commission meeting on 6/24/26. The Commission unanimously recommended the Council approve it.

♿MAKE ALL PROVO PARKS AND SIDEWALKS ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

A recent inventory of all the curbs, sidewalks and park facilities in Provo identified all of the changes that need to happen for full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The City Council will consider adopting a plan for Public Works to begin addressing those problems, including fixing thousands of feet of sidewalks and hundreds of curb ramps. Read the plan here.

🦌BYU WANTS PERMISSION TO CULL CAMPUS DEER: There are at least 60 deer living year-round on BYU campus that are developing health problems (from inbreeding), damaging the landscape and causing safety problems for drivers. BYU wants the City Council to let its employees trap and euthanize deer every August until 2029. (They’ll only do it in August before Fall semester starts.) They hope to cull up to 20 deer each year so they can get the population down to 20 total. Deer carcasses will be donated to private citizens so they’re not wasted. The City Council will vote to approve or deny the plan.

🚗COUNCIL TO OVERSEE PARKING REDUCTION DEALS FOR DEVELOPERS: City Planner Bill Peperone says the requirement that developers provide a certain amount of parking per bedroom is “the single biggest factor holding back more student housing” near BYU. Currently, a developer can ask the Planning Commission for an exception in exchange for things like offering bicycle parking and storage. The City Council will vote on a plan to strip the Planning Commission of that power so that every request for a parking reduction has to come through the City Council for approval.

THESE TWO THINGS WILL ONLY BE DISCUSSED (NOT DECIDED) DURING THE WORK MEETING ON TUESDAY:

💡CHANGES TO OUTDOOR LIGHTING LAWS: Council will discuss the possibility of implementing “dark sky” lighting laws in Provo. The new rules would only apply to new lights. Existing outdoor lights can stay as they are until they need to be replaced. Outdoor lights would need “warmer” LED colors and be “fully shielded” so the light emanates down and to the sides, but not up into the sky. There would also be a limit on how bright electric signs and billboards can be at night. There would be exceptions for holiday lights, the airport, construction and emergency lighting, temporary event lighting, and outdoor sports and performance facilities. Councilors Whitlock (District 3), MacKay (Citywide 1) and Christensen (District 1) are behind this change. More details here.

🎵 NEW DETAILS IN VESPER AMPHITHEATER DRAFT AGREEMENT: The City Council will be discussing the Vesper Amphitheater, but not making any decisions during its Work Meeting on Tuesday. You can watch it on the Council’s YouTube Channel here.

It’s clear the City Council has concerns about this project based on the following list of documents they’ve requested from the Vesper team, but hadn’t received as of Wednesday 8/5/26:

• Updated concept plan

• Community impact studies on traffic, noise, and public utility usage/infrastructure, and economic development

• Summary of communications with UDOT, Orem City, or Utah County regarding roads and utility infrastructure

• Current plans for the frequency of programming

• Detailed estimates on construction and operating costs

What we do have is a new version of the Draft Development Agreement and a Draft Purchase Agreement for the 66 acres Vesper wants to buy from the City.

• Read the latest Draft of Development Agreement here.

• Read the Draft Purchase Agreement here.

Here’s what stood out to me from those two new documents:

• All the previous requirements remain, but there are new details that address some of the public concerns about ambiguity.

• More specifics about the approved uses on the site: Since the SC3 zoning technically allows all kinds of “shopping center” activities, this new draft limits the Vesper site to only the amphitheater, hotel, parking, restaurant and hospitality uses that support the amphitheater operation itself. It says those uses can only happen if the amphitheater itself is operating. The City seems to be trying to prevent the possibility that the amphitheater stops hosting events and the site becomes a restaurant complex or shopping mall.

• Restricted operations on the site will be placed in the deed to the property, so that if the development is sold in the future, the new owner will have to follow the same limitations. This new draft agreement also makes direct mention of the City’s power to enforce those limitations with legal action.

• Shorter height limitations: 50 feet (3 stories) is the maximum height for all the buildings - except for the amphitheater stage, which can have equipment rigged as high as 125 ft. Previous version allowed the buildings to be 75 feet tall.

• Additional parking capacity limits: The draft agreement still limits the amphitheater to 20,000 seats, parking to 8,000 stalls and hotel to 75 rooms. But this version adds that if the amphitheater were to be smaller, the number of parking stalls can’t be more than two-fifths of the number of amphitheater seats. It also says no more than 15 acres can be used for surface parking. (Online estimates suggest you can fit about 150 stalls per acre, so 15 acres would accommodate 2,250 parking spots). The rest would need to be in a parking structure, and a lot of that would have to be underground because 3-stories is the max height for buildings on the property.)

• More specifics about the open space conservation component: At least half of the 66 acres purchased from the city will need remain undeveloped, according to this agreement. That seems to be an effort to have as much of the construction as possible happen on the gravel pit land. Once construction is complete, the agreement allows the City to unilaterally rezone the undeveloped land back to Open Space. The developer will be required to revegetate that land, improve or create public trails and place the undeveloped land in a conservation easement so it will remain open and undeveloped forever.

• Events must be over by midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 p.m. all other days.

• Spells out the requirement that the venue will need a full traffic and parking plan approved by the City and UDOT for any large-scale event (this is the same process required for BYU football games, etc).

• Clarifies the definition of “start” and “complete.” This is important because the Development Agreement requires construction to begin within 3 years and be complete within 7 years. This new draft says “start” means the amphitheater footings have been poured and approved within 3 years of the closing on the sale of the city’s property to the Vesper Developer. “Complete” means the amphitheater, parking, hotel and 75% of the retail/restaurant space are finished within 7 years of the purchase closing. The draft of the purchase agreement adds an appeal process for Vesper if they fail to meet the start and completion deadlines.

• Identifies what the City will have to reimburse Vesper for if it the project fails. This detail is also in the draft purchase agreement. It talks about a land swap, but we don’t know what land Vesper is proposing to offer the City in exchange for the 66 acres of open space next to the gravel pit in Provo Canyon. We also don’t know a price, but know there will have to be multiple independent appraisals of the land. And if Vesper fails to meet the start and completion deadlines, the City can buy back its 66 acres for the “fair value” of the land plus the cost of any “useable improvements.” The draft purchase agreement specifically mentions that “completed surface parking, structured parking and infrastructure improvements” do not count as “useable improvements” the City will have to reimburse if it buys the land back.

UPDATE ON 8/10/26: The City Council added two more Vesper documents to their Work Meeting Agenda Packet today. Supplemental Project Report and an Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis.

Probably because the city doesn’t know about it.

This video covers the highlights, but you need the details.

Here they are:

Last time we dug into detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) laws in Provo (ie. backyard cottages and garage apartments). See that post here:

But INTERNAL ADUs (ie. basement apartments) are far more common and a lot more likely to be happening illegally in Provo.

WHAT’S THE DEAL with so many illegal ADUs in Provo?

The only way for Provo City Government to know if someone is renting out an apartment in their house is if the homeowner has a Rental Dwelling License from the city or neighbors report them to Code Enforcement. This is a sore point for Provo officials because ADUs have a lot of benefits. They create more affordable rental options, help new homeowners afford their mortgage, and make it possible for older residents to age-in-place.

But having so many illegal ADUs makes it impossible for the City to enforce rules designed to prevent negative effects on neighborhoods (like traffic and parking). Those impacts make ADUs unpopular with neighborhoods, which makes the City Council want to limit ADUs even further, which creates an incentive for homeowners to ignore the long list of ADU rules and hope they don’t get caught. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle.

So, the City has begun doing “enforcement blitzes” where they go into a neighborhood and knock on every door to find out who’s living there and whether there’s a rental unit. The Code Enforcement office is also looking through property records and sending warning letters to homeowners they suspect of having an illegal rental. Here are the results of the first blitz they did:

BUT WHAT’S LEGAL AND WHAT’S NOT?

There are three ways an internal ADU can be illegal in Provo:

1️⃣ It’s in an area not zoned for ADUs. Everything in BLUE on this map allows internal ADUs like basement apartments.

ONE EXCEPTION: Homeowners over age 60 who do not live in BLUE areas on the map can apply for an “Elderly Persons Extra Living Space” permit and legally rent an internal ADU. The City Council created this carve-out specifically to help aging residents stay in their homes.

Everyone else can request an exception from the City Council to get their home rezoned for an internal ADU, but the City Council rarely grants those exceptions.

2️⃣ It’s allowed, but it’s not licensed. Every ADU - internal or external - is required to have a Rental Dwelling License. It costs $20 and must be renewed every year. That’s true even if you’re renting to a family member. Even if you’re not charging rent.

See which rentals are licensed in Provo on this interactive map.

3️⃣It’s allowed, but it’s not following the rules.

Here are the internal ADU rules that are most often violated:

• Homeowner lives on-site. Temporary absence (ie. Mission, sabbatical, military service) is okay, but must be cleared with the city.

• Main residence is occupied by one family (can include extended family relatives of the head of household and up to 2 unrelated adults).

• Rental apartment is occupied by no more than 3 adults (related or unrelated) and their minor kids.

• Minimum 4 parking spots on the property. If all the residents in the home and ADU have more than 4 cars, you need enough off-street parking for all of those vehicles.

• ADU outside entrance is on the back or side of the house.

Read Provo’s ADU Code here.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU’RE CAUGHT VIOLATING THE ADU LAWS?

It can get expensive quickly! Usually, there’s a one-week investigation period by the Code Enforcement office and if you’re found in violation, you’ll have two weeks to come into compliance. After that, you’ll face a $100/day fine per violation. If you’re still in violation after 30 days, the fine jumps to $250/day and then to $500/day after another 30 days.

(This info was shared by Provo City Code Compliance Officer Abinadi Borja at the Northwest District Neighborhood Meeting on June 3, 2026.) Read the minutes here.

🚨Tell the Provo City Council what you think! (They’re pretty much always wrestling with ADU issues.) Email council@provo.gov.

First, a quick overview of the proposal:

And here are five things we learned this week from two public meetings about the process and status of the Vesper Amphitheater:

1️⃣ The City Council will NOT vote on the Vesper Amphitheater proposal on Aug. 11, after all.

Instead, they’ll speak with the developers during the Council’s daytime Work Meeting on August 11. Work Meetings are broadcast live and archived on the City’s website, but there’s no opportunity for public comment. Why the delay? Bill Peperone (Director of Development Services for Provo) says the City Council has a lot of questions and the Vesper team requested more time to provide those answers. For example, Peperone says normally a full analysis of how a development will affect traffic isn’t done at this stage, but the City Council has asked for some of those details before they make a decision.

2️⃣The Vesper project felt like a sneaky surprise to the North District Neighborhood, but that was mainly just unfortunate timing.

Typically, large development proposals like Vesper are presented at a Neighborhood District Meeting long before they end up on the Planning Commission’s agenda. In this case, the Vesper Developers held a big press conference and the amphitheater landed on the Planning Commission’s agenda scheduled for just a few weeks later. And then the City scheduled a Timpview Neighborhood Meeting at the last minute (on June 1) as kind of an afterthought (or so it seemed to some residents).

But City Council Community Relations Analyst Rachel Breen (who coordinates communication with the Neighborhood District Boards) says it was a matter of timing: Neighborhood meetings are scheduled a year in advance and held quarterly. In this case, the North District had just had their quarterly neighborhood meeting when they were notified of the Vesper project. The next scheduled meeting for the North District Neighborhood was still 3 months away (end of July) and would be long after the Planning Commission had made its decision. So Breen says she worked with the Neighborhood District to quickly schedule the special public meeting on June 1.

3️⃣ Email is the best way for the public to weigh in.

To be clear, both emails and in-person comment during a public hearing will be considered by the Planning Commission and the City Council. But City Planner Bill Peperone said during the Conserve Utah Valley town hall meeting that sending your comments/concerns by email in advance gives the commissioners and councilors more time to digest your feedback and be sure to address it with developers during the public meeting.

4️⃣ The City Council’s primary power over Vesper is the zoning decision, which happens next.

Lots of us have wondered “Who has the ultimate power to approve or prevent Vesper from moving forward?

It’s confusing because, as Peperone explained in a Conserve Utah Valley virtual town hall, control over how major developments like Vesper play out is split between the Provo City Planning Department (under the Mayor’s direction), the Planning Commission and the City Council.

Let’s take it step by step:

The Planning Commission did the first of its two main jobs in the Vesper process when it REJECTED the basic idea (aka “Concept Plan”) and recommended the City Council DENY the request to rezone the land. See my recap of that meeting here:

⤵️

The Mayor, City Attorney and Planning Department are now working with the Vesper team to refine a legal document (aka Development Agreement) that will hold the project to a strict set of requirements if the City Council approves the rezone. ⤵️

The City Council will decide whether to rezone the land, authorize the Mayor to approve the Development Agreement and sell 66 acres of City land for Vesper. ⤵️

If the Council votes YES then….

The Planning Department will work with Vesper team to make sure they do all the required studies (traffic, environmental, geotechnical) and get all the approvals they need from UDOT, Provo Public Works, etc. to come up with a detailed “Project Plan.” Peperone says this process usually takes at least 6 months. ⤵️

The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Project Plan and approve or deny it. ⤵️

If the Planning Commission votes YES then….

The Planning Department will work with the Vesper team to get all the right permits for construction. A member of the Planning Department staff is assigned to monitor the project closely and Peperone says that planner “goes out and does periodic inspections throughout construction” to make sure the developers are sticking to the Project Plan and the Development Agreement. ⤵️

If the Developer ….

….wants to make a significant change to the Development Agreement, they have to come back to the City Council for a public hearing and a vote.

….violates the Development Agreement, the City can pursue legal action to get a remedy.

….wants any tax incentives from Provo, they have to come back to the City Council for a public hearing and a vote.

5️⃣There’s a new draft of the Development Agreement that will be released publicly before August 11.

Peperone says public concerns and questions from the City Council and Mayor have led more restrictions to added to the Development Agreement that the Vesper project would be required to follow if the City Council approves the rezone.

We should see the latest version when the City Council’s August 11 Work Session Agenda Packet is released publicly next week.

Watch the July 26th Conserve Utah Valley virtual town hall here.

Watch the July 29th North District Neighborhood Meeting here.

The answer might surprise you.

WHAT’S THE DEAL with ADUs rules in Provo? Accessory Dwelling Units, or “ADUs” (backyard cottages, garage apartments, basement rentals) might be the thorniest topic the City Council tackles. They’ve got some pretty strong, differing opinions and it comes down to a three-way balancing act of:

• Preserving the character of Provo’s neighborhoods;

• Respecting individual property rights; and

• Providing more affordable housing.

So, can you build a tiny house in your backyard?

If you live in a BLUE area on this map, you are already in a neighborhood where the City Council has said ADUs are allowed (including basement apartments and backyard cottages).

Now look at this map. ⬇️

Everything in YELLOW will allow a backyard cottage or garage apartment starting in October 2026.

Why such a big change? Because the Utah Legislature is desperate to see more housing built in Utah and lawmakers think many cities are being too restrictive. The latest in that tug-of-war is SB 284 which requires cities with a population over 5,000 to allow detached ADUs on any residential lot over 11,000 sq ft.

But cities can still regulate a lot of details about how those backyard tiny houses and garage apartments get built. And the Provo City Council is planning some rules that will mean lots of people in the YELLOW zone, won’t actually be able to build a detached ADU.

Here’s a checklist to see you qualify: (Must answer “YES” to all.)

• Your lot is at least 11,000 sq ft (.2525 acres) Look your address up on this interactive map the city made. ⤵️

• You live on the property. ⤵️

• The detached ADU is shorter and smaller than the main house - but not smaller than 200 sq ft. ⤵️

• All structures - house, garage, sheds and ADU - total 40% of your property, or less. (So big houses with tiny yards are unlikely to qualify.) ⤵️

• The detached ADU sits at least 10 feet from any property line OR matches the setback of the main house - whichever is less. ⤵️

• For every foot of height over 16 ft, the ADU must be an additional foot from neighboring property lines. (This is to address the concern some councilmembers have about someone putting in a huge ADU that affects the sunlight and views of neighbors.) ⤵️

• Provide 1 or 2 off-street parking spaces (depends on the size of the ADU)⤵️

• The detached ADU is “architecturally compatible” with the main house and not visible from the street.

So, can you legally build a backyard cottage on your Provo property?

Let me know in the comments.

🚨Tell the Provo City Council what you think! They’re still formalizing the detached ADU rules. Email council@provo.gov.

The no-snow winter and super-hot summer have forced many Utah cities to limit lawn-watering.

There are TWO MAIN REASONS Provo City is not.

1️⃣ PROVO HAS A LOT OF WATER

We get it from three main sources:

1. Springs that come down through the canyons feeding into Provo.

2. Wells that tap the large underground aquifer beneath Provo.

3. Provo River and Deer Creek Reservoir

So why aren’t we hurting for water when the rivers and creeks run lower? Because back in the pioneer days, rights to use water were divvied up on a first-come, first-served basis. And Provo - as the oldest city in Utah County - got a solid portion.

🗣️KEY QUOTE: “Because of these water rights that we have we don’t have the same concerns about running out of water that other cities do. But that doesn’t mean that we have any space to waste water or that we shouldn’t be doing our part,” said Mayor Marsha Judkins at her July 7, 2026 town hall meeting.

But, in recent decades, the aquifer beneath our feet has begun to shrink. So Provo is in the middle of a $70 million project to “recharge” the aquifer with drinking water from the City’s new treatment plant (currently under construction). The recharging happens through pumping water directly into a couple of the city’s wells and by letting water sit on the ground in a few places (like Riverview Park) so that it can seep down through the ground. (That’s how the aquifer formed in the first place - from rain, snow and irrigation water trickling down from the surface.)

All of which means that even in a dry year, Provo can easily tap the 30,000 acre feet of water we use.

2️⃣PROVO IS REALLY GOOD AT SAVING WATER

This chart says it all.

Provo residents and businesses have reduced their water use by 36% since 2000. The City has already exceeded the state’s per-capita water-use goal for 2040. We’re 15 years ahead of schedule. And widespread use of water-wise technology for our sprinklers and homes should maintain the trend.

We’re still encouraged to ease up on lawn-watering this summer! Let the grass go a little brown and focus on keeping plants and trees alive.

The Provo Parks Department is conserving too:

• As of 2025, most Provo City parks have rain and soil water sensors to automatically prevent over-watering.

• The Splash Pad at Pioneer Park uses treated, recirculated water.

• Timpanogos Golf Course uses “gray water” from Provo’s new Wastewater Treatment Plant.

FUN FACT: That new Wastewater Treatment Plant that led Mayor Michelle Kaufusi to so proudly call herself “the Sewer Mayor” is a big reason Utah Lake isn’t as slimy as it used to be. The new treatment plant can remove a lot more phosphorous and nitrogen (that feed algae) before the water drains into Utah Lake.

Okay, so if Provo’s in such good water shape….

❓WHY ARE WATER RATES GOING UP 6%?

That’s an infrastructure problem. Provo is losing about 17% of its water each year to leaky pipes and water main breaks. That figure will only increase as the pipes get older - and here’s where being an old city is a disadvantage. Provo has miles and miles of very old water pipes that need to be replaced. In the last two fiscal years, Provo has had 100 water main breaks (including some that were pretty catastrophic and expensive, like the Old-Faithful-Geyser break on Center last year!)

So, Provo’s Public Works department (and a consultant hired to assess the situation) suggested the City Council start incrementally raising rates about 6% a year and devote the extra cash toward replacing at least 5 miles of pipe every year. The Council agreed reluctantly (but unanimously) when it passed the latest City budget in June 2026.

WHERE DID I GET MY INFORMATION? Provo’s 2025 Water Conservation Plan. Read it here.

📣GOT THOUGHTS? Email them to mayor@provo.gov and council@provo.gov. The whole point of Provo Notes is to help us all get more informed and engaged!

The Provo City Council met on Tuesday 7/14 this week. Here’s a quick summary of what they DEBATED and DECIDED.

🚨Next Council Meeting is August 11 @ 5:30 p.m.

🔥NEW FIREMEN AND CITY FIRE RESTRICTIONS

Five new firemen were sworn into the Provo Fire Department.

Also, the City Council raised Provo’s fire restriction to “Level 2.” Provo Fire Marshal Koby Hubbs told me that means:

• Basically, just don’t burn anything anywhere in Provo right now - and especially not on the hillside or in the Canyon.

• No open fires - not even in sanctioned firepits. If you don’t live on the hillside and you have a backyard bonfire and your neighbors tattle on you, you’ll get a citation.

• No charcoal grilling. No weed burning.

  

🚽FLUSHABLE WIPES ARE A FALLACY

The Council got an annual update on the state of Provo’s sewer system and I can summarize the council’s discussion in three quotes

“When these things don’t work well, we feel it. So thank you,” said Councilor Craig Christensen (District 1)

“You never think about it until there’s a very stinky problem,” said Councilor Jeff Whitlock (District 2)

“Never flush those flushable wipes. They will not degrade. They clog the system. Do not do it. Don’t,” said Councilors Rachel Whipple (District 5) and Katrice MacKay (Citywide 1), very emphatically and practically in unison.

Like seriously, friends. “Flushable wipes” are a marketing con. They might flush, but they don’t breakdown like regular toilet paper. They wreak havoc on sewer pipes and the City’s sewer treatment plant.

Get a bidet attachment for your toilet. I’m told it’ll change your life.

🚸NEW SIDEWALK PLANS FOR 1600 W.

The City Council gave a little bit of street-adjacent land back to property owners at 672 S. and 674 S. 1600 W. that had been earmarked for widening the road. But the Provo Public Works department has decided that widening won’t happen anytime soon. (Public Works director Gordon Haight says the city would have to buy half a dozen homes on the road to make way for a wider street and that’s expensive.) So instead, they’re going to prioritize putting a sidewalk in on 1600 W. as soon as they can acquire the right-of-way. It’s a major walking route for kids from Sunset View Elementary and Shoreline Middle School.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“This road is really narrow and we need sidewalks on it for safety. So for that reason I will vote yes, but I do acknowledge this is a road that is very small and we don’t have any plans to widen it for generations,” said Councilor Becky Bogdin (District 3).

❌TOW TRUCK EXEMPTION DIES

During their work meeting, councilmembers debated giving tow truck owners an exemption to the law that prohibits Provo residents from parking large commercial trucks on their property overnight. Councilors Bogdin (District 3) and MacKay (Citywide 1) brought this to the Council after hearing from a Provo resident who operates a tow truck. The argument was essentially that tow truck operators could respond to emergency calls more quickly if they were allowed to park truck at their house at night. But after learning the city sees an average of just one tow-truck-parking-violation a year, the Council decided creating an exemption in the law for such a small impact wouldn’t make sense.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“I don’t like that this tailors the law to favor a very small subset - a certain kind of business - when we know there are other businesses that operate in Provo for the good of the city, like food trucks, trailers for audio visual equipment, things like that, where they are not allowed to park on their property. When we have looked at those things before we’ve had safety concerns about sightlines. Now, if we decide that you should be able to park whatever you want on your property - which I think is also a defensible position - then I would be in favor of removing those restrictions entirely. But not for this very small subset,” said Councilor Rachel Whipple (District 5).

✅THREE INITIATIVES MOVE FORWARD

The Council discussed - and decided to advance - three items to appear on a future night meeting agenda for a vote. (So if you have thoughts about them, email council@provo.gov today!)

• RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Currently many of Provo’s citizen committees (ie. Parks and Rec, Landmarks, Energy Board) do not require members to actually be Provo residents. The Council seems inclined to change that. More info on here.

• NO MORE PARKING REDUCTION DEALS FOR DEVELOPERS: City Planner Bill Peperone says the requirement that developers provide a certain amount of parking per bedroom is “the single biggest factor holding back more student housing” near BYU. Currently, a developer can ask the Planning Commission for an exception in exchange for things like offering bicycle parking and storage. A majority of City Councilmembers seem inclined to eliminating that pathway. (District 5 Councilor Rachel Whipple is a notable exception.) They’ll take an official vote at a future night meeting. Read the proposed ordinance revisions here.

• NEW RULES FOR DETACHED ADUS: The Council has spent many hours on this one. A new state law requires Provo to allow detached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs ie backyard cottages) on any residential lot that’s 11,000 ft or larger. That’s a lot of properties in Provo that are now eligible for a detached ADU. But some on the City Council have concerns about the impact a new cottage or garage apartment might have on neighbors. So city staff have drafted some size, height and setback restrictions for detached ADUs that are now legal under the new state law. They include:

  • All accessory structures (ADU, shed, garage) and the main house cannot cover more than 40% of the total parcel area.

  • Detached ADU must be smaller and shorter than the main house. But no smaller than 200 sq ft. Also it has to be attached to a foundation and it can’t be a shipping container.

  • Must be setback at least 10 feet from any property line or match the setback of the main house - whichever is less.

  • Must be shorter than 25 feet tall - and no taller than the main house.

  • For every foot of height over 16 ft, the ADU must be setback from neighboring property lines by an additional foot. (This is to address the concern some councilmembers have about someone putting in a huge ADU that affects the sunlight and views of neighbors.)

The City Council has instructed planning staff to include the above restrictions in a rewrite of the City’s Zoning laws that’s currently underway and due for votes by the Planning Commission and City Council later this summer.

A just for kicks, here’s a look at our fair city from a paddleboard on Utah Lake last night. #provorocks

And the pelicans were having a party at Utah Lake State Park:

🚨The Provo City Council meets on Tuesday, July 14 @ 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Here’s what’s on the agenda - and most interestingly, what’s NOT:

➡️ALL OF THE BIG AGENDA ITEMS ARE DELAYED

Five significant items were slated for this Tuesday’s council meeting but have been “continued” (aka postponed) to a future meeting.

The agenda does not give any explanation for delaying the following:

• VESPER AMPHITHEATER: The Planning Commission spent 5 hours hearing comment and reviewing this proposal on 6/24/26 before recommending the City Council deny it. Mayor Judkins mentioned at her town hall meeting this week that the Vesper developers asked for more time to prepare their plans and address community concerns before the Council votes. August 11 is now the tentative date for this hearing, but that could always change.

  

• WALMART TAX INCENTIVES: Developer Foulger Pratt has scaled back their plans for the corner of Lakeview Parkway and I-15 in Southwest Provo. Instead of a large rental townhome development and a Super Walmart, they’re now just planning to build the Walmart and a fuel center. They’re asking the City Council for $3.6 million (taken out of the increased sales taxes the Walmart will generate for the city) to help cover costs related to preparing the site and improving infrastructure. Councilmembers heard about this and seemed generally supportive in a previous work meeting, so it’s unclear why this one is being delayed.

  

• TUSCANEL TOWNHOMES: This plan for 12 townhomes in the Joaquin Neighborhood is not supported by the neighbors and the Planning Commission voted this week to recommend the City Council deny it. I suspect the developers asked for the delay to try and rally more support before the Council renders a verdict.

  

• DUPLEX ON 300 S: This property owner is asking for a “spot rezone” to allow them to rent both the upstairs and downstairs of their home at 56 W. 300 S. Current residential zoning on that block only allows renting an ADU if the owner lives in one of the units. The Planning Commission recommended denial because they don’t like “spot rezoning,” but also wondered if the city ought to rezone the entire block to allow rentals, since it’s already a hodge-podge of homes, businesses and multi-unit properties.

• LAKEVIEW FIELDS: Jay Henrie wants to build 33-35 single-family homes on Geneva Road just south of 2000 S. in West Provo. There was no public comment for or against Henrie’s proposal at the Planning Commission meeting on 6/24/26. The Commission unanimously recommended the Council approve it. No idea why this one is being delayed since it seemed pretty straightforward and the developer had significantly revised his plans based on previous council and community feedback.

  

➡️SO WHAT IS THE COUNCIL DOING THIS WEEK?

Mostly some administrative stuff and formalities. Here are four topics of interest they’ll discuss (but not act on) during their Work Meeting that starts at 1 p.m. (You can watch it live or afterward on YouTube.)

🙋‍♂️BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Currently many of Provo’s citizen committees (ie. Parks and Rec, Landmarks, Energy Board) do not require members to actually be Provo residents. The Council is considering changing that.

🛻TOW TRUCK PARKING: It’s illegal in Provo for a tow truck operator to park their truck at their house (in the driveway or on the street) overnight. But that rule can make it tough for a tow truck driver to quickly respond to after-hours calls from law enforcement when there’s a crash or a vehicle that needs to be taken into police custody. The Council will discuss giving tow trucks an exception to park in residential areas.

🅿️PARKING REQUIREMENTS: If a developer wants to provide fewer on-site parking spaces than city law requires, they can ask the Planning Commission for an exception in exchange for things like offering bicycle parking and storage. The City Council will discuss eliminating those exceptions and forcing all such requests to come to the City Council for approval. This is a continuation of the City’s ongoing debate over how to concentrate more student housing closer to BYU campus and ease pressure on street parking in the Joaquin Neighborhood.

🏠DETACHED ADUS: Speaking of ongoing debates, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are back for discussion again. Council will review a draft ordinance placing size, height and setback restrictions on detached ADUS (backyard cottages) that are now allowed by state law in any lot over 11,000 ft.

Find more details on these four items in the Provo City Council’s July 14 Work Meeting Agenda packet here.

This week the Planning Commission recommended DENIAL of 12 townhomes in Joaquin Neighborhood, but APPROVAL of a big new development on the Provo-Springville border.

🚨REMEMBER: The Planning Commission only makes recommendations to the City Council on zoning changes. So the Council will have the final say on these projects at a future meeting.

⬇️READ ON for details of the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday 7/8/26.

❌TUSCANEL TOWNHOMES “TOO DENSE FOR THE LOCATION”

The Planning Commission unanimously (6-0) recommended that the City Council DENY the request to rezone two lots at 313 E. 200 N. The current zoning is RC (Residential Conservation) which does not allow any current property to be replaced with something “more dense.” The developers of “Tuscanel Townhomes” want their land rezoned to HDR (High Density Residential) so they can tear down two pioneer-era homes (1 single family, one 3-plex) and build 12 townhomes (three stories high with parking garages on the ground floor).

But the Joaquin Neighborhood Plan (developed several years ago through extensive consultation between the City and neighborhood residents) calls for preserving the historic, single-family character of this area. Neighbors say the Tuscanel project is too tall, too dense and too likely to become more single-student rental housing.

The landowners are offering to sign a development agreement that will limit them to just the 12 units at 3-stories high with a deed restriction that requires all the units be occupied by the owner for one year. They argue that there are several apartment buildings already on the surrounding blocks and that these 12 townhomes will offer much-needed homeownership opportunities.

🤔 In an interesting twist, several members of the Planning Commission agreed that the townhome project does not align with the Joaquin Neighborhood Plan, BUT also think the Neighborhood Plan should be revised to allow for increased density like this project.

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“We need more housing in Provo and we’re coming up so short. It feels a little disingenuous to always kick the can to another neighborhood. To say “love this project, just not here.” We hear that on a lot of projects. I think we need to revisit housing distribution in the city,” said Commissioner Joel Temple.

We cannot have (neighborhood) plans that do not allow growth. That’s what this plan does. Cities that fight growth do not do well. We either grow or we die,” said Commissioner Jonathon Hill.

“This, to me, is more than a decision about this one piece of property. It’s about public trust. If the City’s General Plan and Neighborhood Plans represent a commitment to residents about how growth will occur and how neighborhood character will be preserved, if we disregard the plans we send a message to the public that no neighborhood zoning is dependable. Families purchase homes as an investment in the neighborhood with an expectation that the City’s Neighborhood Plans have meaning,” said Commissioner Melissa Kendall.

✅PROVO/SPRINGVILLE DEVELOPMENT: ISOLATED, BUT INTRIGUING

The Planning Commission voted 4-2 to recommend the City Council APPROVE zone changes so that Clyde Companies can build a 40-acre “walkable, mixed-use” corridor that will include shops, condos, townhomes (and an outdoor ice/roller skating ring) on the Southeastern tip of Provo (approximately #657 S Sierra Vista Way).

The Provo half (about 21 acres) is currently vacant and zoned for “Industrial” use. Clyde Company wants to build 168 townhomes and 90 condos there (with parking, of course), an “art walk” and some small parks and landscaped open space. A bunch of shops and restaurants will fill the lower half of the development. Most of those businesses will be in Springville (black dotted line on image is the city border). Clyde is building their new headquarters just South of this proposed development and they envision some of their employees wanting to live across the street in this new planned community.

Provo’s economic development team is working with Springville to create a tax-revenue sharing plan for the development, since the design has Springville getting most of the sales tax revenues and Provo bearing the burden of providing services and schooling for the residential portion.

The Planning Commission was enthused about the proposal and the potential for so much new housing in Provo. The main reason two of the commissioners voted against the zoning recommendation is that the development would be surrounded by industrial property and feel like a long way from the rest of Provo homes and businesses.

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“These people will live in Provo and go to Provo schools, but they won’t feel like Provo residents. They’ll feel like Springville residents,” said Commissioner Jonathon Hill.

“I quite like this plan. I live in that Spring Creek neighborhood. You have condos and storage units. Condos and townhomes and storage units. For me this is just par for the course. I think you have to start somewhere. People need homes. We have a shortage,” said new Commissioner Tosh Metzger.

NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING: Tuesday, July 14 @ 5:30 p.m. Watch for my preview of that agenda this weekend!

🚨The Provo Planning Commission meets on Wednesday, July 8 @ 6 p.m. at City Hall. Send comments to dspublichearings@provo.gov.

Before we dive into this week’s Planning Commission agenda, here’s a 2-minute summary of my last post about the Commission’s rejection of the Vesper Amphitheater proposal.

Here’s a PREVIEW of the TWO developments on the Planning Commission agenda THIS week (7/8/26):

➡️PROVO/SPRINGVILLE MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT BY CLYDE COMPANIES

Clyde Companies hopes to build a 40-acre “walkable, mixed-use” corridor that will include shops, condos, townhomes (and at one point they even mentioned an ice rink) on the Southeastern tip of Provo (approximately #657 S Sierra Vista Way). Half of the development would be in Springville and the other half in Provo. That’s where it gets tricky.

The Provo half (about 21 acres) is currently vacant and zoned for “Industrial” use. Clyde Co. wants it rezoned to “Mixed-Use” for some retail, but mostly to build 90 condos and 168 townhomes. The Springville half is where most of the retail will go. So that means Provo misses out on the economic benefit of the sales taxes. To even things up, Provo and Springville are working on an agreement to share tax revenues from the development.

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council, which will have the final say.

➡️DEMOLISH TWO PIONEER HOMES AND BUILD 12 TOWNHOMES

The plan to tear down a couple of pioneer-era structures at 313 E. 200 N. and build more housing has been around the block with the Joaquin Neighborhood for several years now. The latest proposal is scaled back significantly from the original idea for a 23-unit apartment building. Now the property owners would like to build 12 townhomes on the site. For that plan to work, the property needs to be rezoned from “Residential Conservation” (current designation) to “High Density Residential.”

The Joaquin Neighborhood Plan (adopted in 2014) calls for concentrating high-density housing north of 500 N. and preserving the single-family residential character of the neighborhood south of 500 N. This proposed development at 313 E. 200 N. is in the “preserve single-family character” part of Joaquin, and that’s a main driver of neighborhood opposition. However, the property owners note that there are lots of apartment buildings surrounding this property and that converting two dilapidated buildings (one is a single-family home, the other is a triplex) into 12 townhomes creates more homeownership opportunities - which is also a priority for the City.

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation on the plan to the City Council, which has the final say on zoning changes.

📣GOT THOUGHTS?

Email comments to dspublichearings@provo.gov. Attend the Planning Commission meeting and comment in-person on Wednesday, July 8 @ 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Here are some highlights from this week’s marathon City Council and Planning Commission meetings (held June 23 and 24th).

❌PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDS PROVO REJECT VESPER

Developers of the proposed Vesper Amphitheater faced a tough crowd at the Provo Planning Commission on Wednesday night. It was a packed room (I counted at least 120 people in the audience) and the meeting lasted five hours before the Planning Commission voted (5-2) to recommend the City Council DENY the request to rezone the land for the amphitheater.

• BASICS OF THE PROPOSAL:

  • 100 acres (34 acres existing gravel pit, 66 acres undeveloped city property) would be rezoned to SC3 (Shopping Center).

  • 20,000-seat indoor/outdoor amphitheater, 8,000 parking stalls (surface and parking garage), 75-room hotel, restaurant, plaza and guest services.

  

• DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT IS KEY: City planning staff and Vesper’s Bryan Bayles spoke at length about a legal contract that would go hand-in-hand with the rezone and give the City power to:

  • Cap amphitheater at 20,000 seats and parking at 8,000 stalls.

  • Limit other development on the site (even if SC3 zone would technically allow it)

  • Place undeveloped land in a conservation easement and maintain public trail access.

  • Set noise, light and building design limits.

  • Rezone the land back to open space if the project isn’t underway within 3 years, and finished in 7 years.

  

• PUBLIC COMMENT WAS OVERWHELMINGLY NEGATIVE: Commissioners received more than 200 emails before the meeting and heard from 50 people in-person. The vast majority were opposed to the development. Commissioners repeatedly brought up points that were made in the emails from citizens and asked the developer and city staff to address those points.

• PROVO MAYOR WEIGHS IN: In a letter to the Planning Commission, Mayor Judkins acknowledged many “valid concerns” about the proposal and said City staff are working with the developers to resolve them. She urged the Planning Commission to recommend approval of the zoning so the developers can continue to explore the viability of their plans:

  • “If a zone change is passed, Provo City is not approving the amphitheater project. It is, however, signaling a willingness to carefully consider and review a future proposal that may transform an existing industrial site into a destination that provides recreation, entertainment, tourism, economic activity, and protected open space for the community.”

  • Mayor Judkins also wrote that gravel pits are notoriously difficult to shutdown (they’re financially lucrative and protected by state law). “Opportunities to convert an active gravel pit into a significant community asset are exceedingly rare. I believe it is important that this opportunity be evaluated with a full understanding of both the project’s challenges and its potential benefits.”

  • Read the full letter here:

• GOOD IDEA, WRONG PLACE: Planning Commissioners saw “great economic benefit” to a Vesper-like amphitheater in Provo, but concluded that:

  • It’s too large for this location and not in harmony with the intent of the Canyon and Hillside Development plans drafted by Provo citizens.

  • There are still too many unanswered questions about traffic, light, noise and environmental disruption.

  • Rezoning the land and then relying on the Development Agreement to keep the project in compliance feels too risky.

• WHAT NOW? The City Council makes final decisions on zone changes and development agreements. Sometimes the Council follows the Planning Commission’s recommendations, sometimes it doesn’t.

  • Vesper Amphitheater Project is currently scheduled for the City Council’s July 14 meeting @ 5:30 p.m.

    (However, big projects like this often get delayed when things go poorly at the Planning Commission, so stay tuned for updates.)

    UPDATE ON 7/7/26 - The City Council will NOT hear the Vesper Project proposal on 7/14/26. The just-published agenda for that meeting indicates the proposal has been “Continued” (aka delayed) to a future meeting, TBD.

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✅DID THE CITY COUNCIL DO ANYTHING THIS WEEK?

Uh, yeah. A lot. Some quick hits for you:

• Provo is now under high fire-risk restrictions: Open fires are only allowed in designated park pits. After the meeting, Provo enacted a total, city-wide ban on fireworks. Only professional shows like Stadium of Fire can happen this year.

• Leaving your trash bin on the street too long, using someone else’s bin without permission, or putting trash in yard waste bins all now carry a $25 fine. (Punishment used to be a Class B misdemeanor and had to involve the police.) Also, the City Council added a noise exception for trash collection to start at 6 a.m. (all other noise must wait until 7 a.m.)

• The City Council sent the parking-around-BYU debate back to the drawing board. They understand the need for revisions but want more data and nuanced options before making any changes to how much parking new apartment complexes are required to have.

• A huge, high-end, hillside subdivision got enthusiastic approval from the City Council. Watch for 64 luxury homes on large lots, 38 townhomes and public trail access throughout the “Foothill Orchards” development at 5450 N Canyon Rd.

• Provo farmers can now put a 1-acre plot of land into an “agricultural protection zone” so they have some protection when new developments move in next door and start complaining about the farm noise or smells.

• $315 million City Budget approved. The process was relatively painless this year because of stronger-than-expected sales tax revenues.

And just for kicks, here are a few pics of my paddleboard float down the Provo River this morning. #provorocks #provoriver

🚨City Council meets on Tuesday 6/23. Work Session @ 1:30 p.m. and Regular Meeting @ 5:30 p.m.

🚨Planning Commission meets on Wednesday 6/24 @ 6 p.m.

➡️AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING ON WEDNESDAY 6/24

🏠NEW 33-HOME SUBDIVISION ON GENEVA ROAD

Jay Henrie is looking for a rezone to build 33 single-family homes at approximately 1804 North Geneva Road. A previous proposal called for twin-homes, but neighbors are much happier with the current plan for single-family detached homes. (No basements. Water table is too high there.) Planning Commission will consider the rezone request on Wednesday 6/24 (before the Vesper project comes up) and make a recommendation to the City Council for a final decision.

🎶VESPER AMPHITHEATER SEEKS PRELIMINARY APPROVAL

First step for any development in Provo is the Planning Commission (a committee of unpaid Provo residents appointed to vet proposals and make recommendations to the City Council). On Wednesday, June 24 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, the Planning Commission will hear presentations from Provo Development Services staff and the developers proposing the Vesper Project at the mouth of Provo Canyon.

During the public comment period, anyone can speak for 2 minutes, and then they cut off your microphone, so keep it short!

Email your comments to dspublichearings@provo.gov and council@provo.gov.

NOTE: The City Council has the FINAL SAY on zoning, so this week is just round one. Check out the proposed agreement between the City and the Developers, plus lots and lots of emails from residents about the project in the meeting agenda packet here: https://www.provo.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06242026-401

➡️ AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ON TUESDAY 6/23

🏘️HIGH-END HOME PLAN IN NORTHEAST FOOTHILLS SEEKS COUNCIL APPROVAL

Developers (led by Reza Fakhrieh) have assembled 152 acres around 5450 North Canyon Road that they hope to convert from “open space” and “agricultural” zoning into a large residential development. The proposal is a about half as dense as the original plan they floated and neighbors expressed strong support for it at the Planning Commission meeting on 5/13/26. Developers now envision about 64 custom homes on large (1/2 acre and 1 acre) lots to avoid disturbing “sensitive hillside.” Further down the slope where Canyon Road meets University Ave, they hope to build 38 townhomes. The developers also say the new roads in the development will be open (not gated) to maintain public access to the surrounding hillside trails.

🚗NEW PARKING REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS

City Council on Tuesday 6/23 will decide whether to adjust parking requirements for new developments near BYU and UVX stops. It’s apparently very expensive to build parking and Provo Planning Department staff say the current parking requirements for new development south of campus have deterred projects that would have replaced aging buildings with more dense housing options. SO, the Planning Department is suggesting the following changes to City code. (Planning Commission recommended approval.)

See my plain-English summary of the proposed parking requirement changes in this previous post.

🌾MAKE IT EASIER TO PROTECT AGRICULTURAL LAND IN PROVO?

City Council on Tuesday 6/23 will decide whether to reduce the size requirement from 5 acres down to 1 acre for a plot of land that can qualify as an “Agricultural Protection Area.” Planning Commissioners had some concerns about whether the change would make it harder for neighbors to complain if someone starts doing new smelly/noisy farm-stuff on their land. Development staff said the protections would only apply to existing uses and the change is really meant to help existing farmers in Provo continue to operate as new developments surround them.

💰FINAL CITY BUDGET HEARING BEFORE COUNCIL APPROVAL

The six-month process to adopt a $315 million city budget for the next fiscal year ends on Tuesday 6/23 with a final public hearing and vote by the City Council. See a “Citizen’s Summary” here.

🦌BYU WANTS PERMISSION TO CULL CAMPUS DEER

There are at least 60 deer living year-round on BYU campus property. (The things you learn reading Council Work Meeting packets!) BYU is seeking Council approval to trap and euthanize dozens of them this August, in hopes of reducing the campus deer population by a third. Why? Here’s what the Council’s 6/23/26 Work Meeting Agenda says: “Because this group remains largely isolated from broader herds, evidence suggests increasing health concerns within the population, including visible deformities and other issues consistent with inbreeding. In addition to animal welfare concerns, the resident population has caused ongoing landscape damage and presents safety considerations for pedestrians and motorists.) If the plan gets enough support in the Council Work meeting on 6/23, it’ll go to a vote on 7/14/26.

📣GOT THOUGHTS ON ANY OF THESE ITEMS?

Provo City Council meets @ 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23. Email comments to council@provo.gov. Agendas here.

Provo Planning Commission meets @ 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24. Email comments to dspublichearings@provo.gov. Agendas here.

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Here are some highlights from the City Council meeting on 6/9/26 and the Planning Commission Meeting on 6/10/26.

✅WATER RATES GOING UP 6%

The City Council really didn’t want to have to do this, but after several long Work Meeting deliberations it became clear that a 6% rate increase for the fiscal year starting in July is necessary. They voted unanimously (7-0) during their Work Meeting on 6/9 to include the rate increase in the budget they will approve at their meeting on 6/23. The main reasons are: Provo (like most cities) has miles upon miles of pipes that need replacing; the City’s soil is more corrosive than most; water line breaks are happening more often; and Provo has a backlog of pipe replacement projects.

🛑MEMORIAL PARK BATHROOM PLAN ON HOLD

After considerable public feedback, the Parks Department will not put a bathroom at Memorial Park in downtown Provo (just yet). Instead, it’ll spend the next fiscal year working with the neighborhood to develop a master plan for the park.

🛝FORT UTAH PARK will see significant improvements next year including a playground, skate park and more parking.

❌LIBRARY ARTS GRANT PULLED FROM BUDGET

The City Council voted 4-3 during its Work Meeting to stop giving the City Library an automatic $10,000 grant from the RAP tax each year to fund art galleries at the library. Councilor Becky Bogdin (District 3) led the effort to pull that money from the budget. Instead, the library will have to apply to the Provo Arts Council and compete alongside all the other arts groups seeking RAP Tax money. Councilor Bodgin says that will make the Library more accountable for how it spends that RAP Tax money. Councilor Rachel Whipple (District 5) was the most vocal opponent of the move during the meeting, saying it will undermine the Library’s ability to bring professional art exhibits to its galleries. Councilors Garrett (Citywide II) and Whitlock (District 2) also voted against removing the Library’s art grant from the budget. This move won’t be final until the Council passes the budget at its Regular Meeting on 6/23/26.

👀ADJUSTING ADU LAWS

A new state law is forcing Provo to allow detached Accessory Dwelling Units (aka ADUs, backyard cottages, garage apartments) on residential lots larger than 11,000 sq ft. As you can see from this map on the City’s website, that’s a lot of homeowners who could now build a detached ADU - BUT only if they meet the rest of the City’s ADU building codes. And the City Council can add restrictions that will make it so difficult and expensive to build a detached ADU that most people simply won’t (at least not legally, anyway). Should the Council go that route?

That’s what Councilors have been wrestling with these last few Work Meetings and they seem to have landed on a plan to generally keep external ADU rules as UNCHANGED for areas where they’re already allowed in Provo, while making a MORE RESTRICTIVE set of rules (on ADU height and distance from neighboring properties) for all the new areas where detached ADUs are allowed under state law. One change that would affect all areas of the City is that the external ADU won’t necessarily be required to have its own sewer and water hookups (which has been a significant expense). This plan will not be official until the Council approves a massive rewrite of the City’s building codes this Fall.

**ALSO, none of the changes the City Council is looking at affect where or how INTERNAL ADUS (ie. basement apartments) can happen.

🗣️KEY QUOTES:

“In this state you don’t have a right to a ‘view,’ you don’t have a right to your sunlight, you don’t actually have a right to privacy for your own property. Your rights are confined to your property lines. So what we are doing if we put in something that says you can’t build something tall in your backyard to look over mine, is we’re putting restrictions on private property rights that are not justified by state law. We are constraining the ability of people to use their own property and I don’t like that. I like the idea that I can work with my property and build on it so long as what I’m doing is not affecting the health or safety of adjoining property owners,” said Councilor Rachel Whipple (District 5).

“I stand by (the idea) that people buy the houses they do, where they do, purposefully. They want animal rights, they don’t want rights. They want an ADU, they don’t want an ADU. They want commercial use, they don’t want commercial use. People are very purposeful in what they buy - it’s the biggest transaction of their life and their biggest investment. The state’s making this change and it will fundamentally change neighborhoods. I have issue with changing things in existing - in what people bought into and what they invested in,” said Council Chair Katrice MacKay (Citywide I).

👀SOUTHWEST PROVO WALMART & HOTEL/GAS STATION/RESTAURANT DEVELOPMENT

The novel plan for a profit-sharing deal to build a hotel, gas station and several restaurants just south of Epic Sports Park got a tentative thumbs up from the City Council. The financial details are still being worked out (see my last post for the overview), but the City Council seemed pretty enthusiastic about it in their Work Meeting on 6/9.

🗣️KEY QUOTE: “It’s not typical to see this kind of creativity in a development deal. This is being structured in a way that we (the City) get ongoing benefit in perpetuity. As I take a look at the details I’m seeing shared risk. Very little downside for the city and tremendous upside. This is unusual in a good way,” said Councilor Craig Christensen (District 1).

Developer Foulger Pratt presented their updated request for $3.6 million (taken out of the increased sales taxes the Walmart will generate for the city) to build a SUPER WALMART AND FUEL CENTER at the corner of Lakeview Parkway and I-15. The original plan for townhomes to the north and west of the Walmart is on hold for now. Developers say they need the $3.6M (plus $1M worth of fill dirt from the City) to help cover the cost of raising the site above lake level, widening Lakeview Parkway and adding a traffic signal. Council will have to vote on the incentives in a Regular Meeting in order for it to be official, but the general sentiment among Councilors seems to be supportive.

✅NEW CONDO/TOWNHOME PLANS APPROVED

• 5568 N. Canyon Road: Council gave unanimous (7-0) approval to a 3-story building with 46 condos up against the hillside in Northeast Provo. A development agreement attached to the plan will require that 50% of the condos be occupied by owners, not renters.

  

• 88 West 500 North: Planning Commission unanimously (6-0) approved the plan for 26 townhomes just west of the historic BYU Women’s Gymnasium. They’ll be 3-levels with garages and some community areas on the inside of the block. Commissioners had some concerns about parking, since lots of people use their garages for stuff, not cars. But the plans meet the city’s parking requirements and the developers are going out of their way to add some extra street parking, too. So the commission approved it. Council already approved the zoning so now it’s go-time for the developers.

  

🚨PROVO CANYON AMPHITHEATER is on the Planning Commission agenda for Wednesday, June 24 @ 6 p.m. at City Hall.

📣You can attend the meeting and speak for 2 minutes or send your comments to dspublichearings@provo.gov.

Lots of detail about the Vesper Amphitheater proposal can be found on the City’s Transparency Portal here: https://www.provo.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/304

I’m back from a quick vacation and trying to get caught up. Here’s a rundown of what’s on the agenda this week:

✋VESPER AMPHITHEATER public hearing will NOT happen on Wednesday 6/10. City staff want more time to review the application. Tons of factual info on this project is available on the City’s Transparency Portal here.

🌊NEW FLOOD RISK MAPS are up for City Council adoption during the Regular Meeting on 6/10. This is a FEMA-driven process that’s been going on for more than a decade and the Council doesn’t have much of a choice but to adopt the maps by June 23. More than 100 additional Provo property owners will now be in the flood zone and required to have flood insurance if they have a federally-backed mortgage.

Here’s a helpful page the City put together with a searchable flood zone map: https://www.provo.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/307

🛒WEST-SIDE DEVELOPMENTS are on the City Council’s Work Meeting agenda for consideration (both will need to go to a full City Council meeting for public hearing and a vote at some point in the coming months).

• WALMART on Lakeview Parkway at I-15: The developer (Foulger Pratt) is back with a scaled-back plan that includes just the Walmart, a fuel center and some additional retail spots for restaurants, etc. The for-rent townhomes are OFF the table for now. Foulger Pratt has also cut its incentive request from the City in half for a total of $4.5M ($3.6M sales tax incentive + $1M worth of fill dirt the City earmarked for the site in 2021).

  

• EPIC SPORTS PARK HOTEL, GAS STATION AND RESTAURANTS: We’re getting our first look at the deal the City’s Economic Development team has drafted with a developer called Philo Ventures and it’s kinda unusual. The City owns 5 acres valued at $3.7M just south of Epic Sports Park on Lakeview Parkway. Provo will contribute the land to joint venture in exchange for 2.5% of hotel revenues and 2.5% of all other commercial property lease revenues. Philo will also get a cut of property and sales taxes generated by the development totaling $1.3M after 20 years. The profit sharing is estimated contribute $203,000 a year to Provo City’s coffers by 2030. (These numbers are all based on slides provided by the City Economic Development team in the Council’s Work Meeting agenda packet.)

  

💲PUBLIC HEARING ON THE CITY BUDGET is on the City Council’s Regular Meeting Agenda @ 5:30 p.m. on 6/9. Read an easy-to-read summary of the proposed budget here and comment at the meeting.

🏘️MISCELLANEOUS TOWNHOME/CONDO/DUPLEX PROPOSALS are on the Regular Meeting agendas for both the City Council and Planning Commission. Here’s a quick list:

• 46 OWNER-OCCUPIED CONDOS in a 3-story building with parking underground and in front at 5568 N. Canyon Road. Planning Commission recommended approval. Neighbors had some concerns about trail access and increased traffic on Canyon Road in an already-tricky spot. City Council will consider rezoning and approving the development plan during its Regular Meeting on 6/9 @ 5:30 p.m.

  

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• DUPLEX REZONE AT 56 W 300 S. The existing home has a basement apartment the owner has rented out while she lived there. But now the owner no longer lives in the home and wants to rent both the upstairs and downstairs units. That’s not allowed in the current zoning, so she’s asking for a rezone that allows more density (and duplex rentals). City planning staff say the request doesn’t align with the Franklin Neighborhood Plan or the City’s priority of encouraging owner-occupancy. Planning Commission will hear from the property owner, take public comment and make a recommendation to the City Council during its Regular Meeting on 6/10 @ 6 p.m.

  

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• 26 TOWNHOMES NEXT TO HISTORIC BYU WOMEN’S GYMNASIUM DOWNTOWN. The site at 88 West 500 North is currently vacant (all the original homes were purchased and razed in recent years). The 3-story townhomes will all be for sale with a courtyard in the middle that will have a fire pit, pavilion, ping pong, etc. The site will carry a deed restriction limiting owners to owning only one property in the development, requiring owner-occupancy for 2-years from the original sale and restricting rentals to 25% of the units. This development doesn’t require any rezone from the City Council, so the Planning Commission will take public comment and then vote on whether to approve the Project Plan during its meeting on 6/10 @ 6 p.m.

  

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• DEMOLISH TWO PIONEER HOMES AND BUILD 12 TOWNHOMES. Located at 313 E. 200 N. in the Joaquin Neighborhood, the homes were built in 1880 and 1885 but are not on the local Landmarks Register, so they can be demolished. The site is south of the 500 N. boundary where the Joaquin neighborhood transitions from high density zoning for apartments and condos to residential single-family zoning. The Joaquin Neighborhood Plan calls for preserving the historic character and lower density of this area, so this proposal to build 12 townhomes on the site faces some opposition both from City planning staff and the neighborhood. The Planning Commission will hear from the developer, hold a public hearing and make a recommendation to the City Council during its meeting on 6/10 @ 6 p.m.