On June 12, I attended the West Valley City planning commission meeting. The commission reviewed Edge home’s proposal to build townhomes, condos and single family homes on the property of the Redwood Drive-In Theater. The proposal is to rezone that property from commercial use to residential use. At the meeting, I heard opinions from community members saying the only way to save the swap meet is to keep the property zoned for commercial use only.
It’s a false dichotomy to say we can either build housing or we can save the swap meet. In fact, I believe if we don’t build dense housing on the property, we won’t save the swap meet.
Per the planning commission’s reporting, the owners of the theater are aging and no longer want to operate management intensive properties. Due to the need to hire operating staff, the writer’s strike in Hollywood affecting movie quality and movie-goers preferring streaming services over attending any theater, the drive-in theater business is unprofitable.
We should bear in mind the planning commission’s question was not, “Should we save the swap meet?” The question was “Should we rezone the property for residential use and adopt Edge Homes’ redevelopment proposal?”
Simply saying “no” to the proposal keeps the property under its current commercial zoning, but does not prevent the property owners from selling to commercial developers. Rejecting this rezone proposal doesn’t save the swap meet.
To save the swap meet, we should insist West Valley change their parking and height requirements to accommodate for dense apartments and condos. We can build more stories with less parking. The excess space taken up by parking can be consolidated into a permanent home for the swap meet on the property. This kind of zoning is known as “mixed-use zoning.”
Most units in the original proposal have about 2.5 parking spots per unit in addition to parking spots on the driveway. Imagine all the ground-level space we could save on the property for the swap meet if we relaxed the city’s parking requirements.
These changes should be accompanied with re-routing the Mid-Valley Connector Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). BRT is a reliable form of transportation often chosen as a way to provide train-like services without the added cost of laying down permanent tracks. UTA already operates a BRT line in Provo called the UVX. The Mid-Valley BRT line will connect West Valley Station Trax Greenline to the Murray Central Station and should be completed by December 2025.
Before the Mid-Valley BRT line is up and running, I’m proposing we tweak the planned route to stop at the Redwood Drive-In Theater property.
(James Longstaff) James Longstaff's proposed re-routing of Mid-Valley Connector Bus Rapid Transit.
The property is centrally located within a 12- to 20-minute walking distance of two grocery stores and Costco. If the Mid-Valley BRT stops at the property, residents will be connected to amenities, jobs and education along the rail network. The amenities within a 10- to 15-minute ride of the BRT would include the West Valley Library, SLCC, the Valley Fair Mall, Costco and the West Valley Greenline station. Swap meet shoppers and vendors would also have easy access to the property through transit.
Prioritizing housing over convenient parking would encourage residents to live on the property car-free or car-light, thus increasing the number of housing units without increasing car traffic.
If parking and height requirements are relaxed, the developer can then build significantly more units and make equal or more profit than the original proposal. The promise of more developer profits gives West Valley the leveraging power to ensure a permanent spot on the property for the swap meet in addition to the profit-earning dense housing.
Dense housing on this property will also help solve the affordable housing crisis. One of the main reasons why rent is so high is because the number of housing units available to rent/buy is far less than the number of housing units renters/buyers are looking to rent/buy. Landlords and home sellers can then ask for more money from renters/buyers because there are fewer other alternatives. More housing built means less shortage. Less shortage means lower prices.
While the housing in Edge Homes’ original proposal would help address the housing shortage, building even more apartments and condos with less parking and greater heights will address the housing shortage even more effectively. If West Valley City prioritizes convenience of arriving somewhere by car and low building heights above all else, West Valley City will be tying the hands of developers from building affordable housing and from saving the swap meet.
While it’s justified to be skeptical of developers, dismissing their need to make profits does not save the swap meet. The property owners have the final say on what happens to the property, and they could very well sell it to a commercial developer if the proposal is rejected. A new commercial development on the property would also kill the swap meet.
James Longstaff has lived in Salt Lake County for the past six years and is concerned with how the housing affordability crisis will affect his future.
James Longstaff was born in Salt Lake City and is a graduate of BYU. He’s lived in Salt Lake County for the past six years. He’s a non-homeowner who is concerned with how the housing affordability crisis will affect his future and the future of other young people in Utah.
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