Joaquin Neighborhood Meeting Report from May 15, 2014

Wow! There was great turnout at the meeting!

We started out with a report from Councilman Sewell on BRT, Bus Rapid Transit. He said the city has resolved concerns and is moving ahead. Of course, there were still concerns from residents at the meeting, but some of those we won't know if they are valid until BRT is actually implemented. The idea is to be close to the speed and reliability of light rail. If the city really wants to move forward environmentally, in PR, etc., it needs to have this. We need realistic options to get around the city, so I think this will be a good thing.

Special thanks to Stephen Hales for his nice show of support in showing up.

Unfortunately, we did not discuss one of the items on the agenda--the new development on 900 E. Apparently no one contacted the developer...hmm. On the other hand, the meeting would have gone another hour if the developer had been there, so it may have been a blessing in disguise.

Lastly, we discussed the Joaquin Neighborhood Plan. Thanks to Bill Peperone for his work with the neighborhood on this. I liked what he said about cities usually telling people what they can't do rather than providing a vision for the future. The Joaquin Neighborhood Plan is definitely a vision for the future. We talked about the zoning in the plan, again with the main emphasis on bunching student housing north of 500 East. Parking was a contentious issue as usual, especially since we are one of the neighborhoods close to campus. Apparently the city is hiring a consultant to finally address the city parking problem once and for all. I know this is a major concern of Mayor Curtis so hopefully something will actually happen. Still, I wish we could not get so hung up on parking that we miss the big picture--making our neighborhood an awesome place to live!

I thought a good point was brought up that Utah is growing (read this article about the predicted population explosion) and is going to continue growing. We can shape that growth and make our neighborhood one that people want to move to!

*Random note: Go to code.provo.org and then to Chapter 14 for zoning definitions and descriptions.
 *Favorite thing brought up in meeting: "Can I still have chickens?" And... "Will the BYU students bother the chickens?" We love the BYU students!

Important Last Minute Meeting Coming Up Thursday, May 15th

Time to meet the official Joaquin Neighborhood Chair! This is the first time he's called a meeting in a while, so it should be interesting!

 

"Dear Neighbors:

There will be a Neighborhood meeting this Thursday May 15th at the Provo City Library in the Brimhall Room at 6:30pm. The Agenda will be as follows:

1. Bus Rapid Transit update. I have asked Council member Sewell to give us a quick update on what the council just voted on. We will need to excuse Councilman Sewell at 6:50 because he has another meeting at 7pm.

2. The Developer of the Pacific Heights Apartments located at 743 N 900 E will give a presentation of the final product. This project has changed hands and a new architect was brought in. I thought you might like to see what will be built.

3. Bill Peperone from the office of Community Development will give an official report of the latest draft of the "Joaquin Neighborhood Plan"


Leo Lines
Joaquin Neighborhood Chair
801-636-0268