Springville's Station Area Plan

The goal is to create a neighborhood where residents can access all the things they need for daily living within walking distance—a pharmacy, fresh produce and pantry staples, parks and playgrounds, and more.

Using principles of transit-oriented development, a successful station area plan prioritizes pedestrians so it’s safe for everyone from kids to seniors to walk and bike throughout the neighborhood.

Transit (buses and trains) are also prioritized to reduce traffic congestion, provide more choices for how to get around and combat air pollution. Cars are welcome in some spaces, at a speed that is safe for people walking and biking.

1. Streets design for all users while prioritizing pedestrian comfort and bicycle safety.
2. Integrate residential options, such as condos, apartments, or townhouses, to create a multi-generational and accessible community.
3. Create great public spaces that encourage planned and spontaneous social gatherings.
4. Capture the value of transit.
5. Physically connect the community, internally and externally
6. Visually harness Springville's values through form and style

Springville’s station area plan will establish a vision and 5-year implementation plan that are both optimal and appropriate for the Springville community. The vision will be influenced by community input, while taking into consideration the existing site and site context conditions and market realities. These will inform a station area plan through an iterative process that will lead to a 5-year development strategy.

The vision will also be informed by several existing plans and mandates including the South Valley Transit Study, Zoning & Overlay Codes and Station Area Plan Requirements.

Utah House Bill 462:

• As a result of the 2022 state Legislative session, HB462 (titled  Housing Affordability Amendments, ) passed and was signed into law requiring a city that has a fixed-guideway public transit station (rail or BRT) to develop a Station Area Plan for that station and update its general plan and zoning to implement the Station Area Plan.
• A Station Area Plan (SAP) is intended to promote shared objectives such as housing availability and affordability, access to opportunities, sustainable environmental conditions, and transportation choices and connections. 
• Increases the availability and affordability of housing, including moderate income housing.
• Promotes sustainable environmental conditions.
• Enhances access to opportunities.
• Increases transportation choices and connections.
• Plan ½ mile radius around a rail station, and ¼ mile radius around a bus rapid transit (which uses a separate right-of-way) station and adopt any appropriate land use regulations to implement the station area plan.
• Plan adoption by Springville City and the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Zoning Codes:

In efforts to preserve open space and create park space, encourage quality neighborhoods and quality housing, the Westfields Overlay Zone was created. Much of the site falls within the Westfield Overlay Zone. Zoning codes include limitations on building densities, diversity in building elevations, parking minimums, housing types, etc.

Springville is an evolving city in a region heavily dependent on cars. By 2050,  MAG’s TransPlan50  projected Utah County’s population will nearly double. UTA is improving commuter transit infrastructure to offset traffic volumes and cities have begun planning for growth.

The proposed FrontRunner station in Springville will provide community members and commuters with an alternative mode of transportation. This improves drivers’ commutes by reducing the number of cars on the road and provides choices for people who can’t or don’t want to drive.

While the concept of a Station Area Plan holds substantial value to the economic and social vibrancy of Springville, community values and concerns must be integrated into the overall design. For a suburban community like Springville, there may be questions or fears about how a mixed-use neighborhood will affect the town.

1. How do we design for a constituency that doesn’t yet live in the station area?
2. How do we create an economically sustaining retail core without competing with other Springville retail cores?
3. How do we integrate community values and tradition into a new mixed-use development?
4. How do we create a sense of place in a mostly undeveloped area?

UTA, in partnership with Springville City, is developing a vision for a station area 1.5 miles from downtown Springville. The site has access from I-15 and 400 South, and is bordered by the UTA FrontRunner line, single-family residential neighborhoods, and commercial centers to the east and west.