My stand on issues

MY POSITION ON THE ISSUES

Open space subdivisions: Open space for open space sake is no better than undeveloped space. "Open space" should conform to a park master plan and fulfill some predetermined need. Any thing else will be an unnecessary burden on those who live by it.
A definition of what constitutes "open space" should be developed.

Fences: Property owners should be allowed to place fences wherever they want on their property as long as it doesn’t create a safety problem such as at street intersections. Six foot high privacy fences should be allowed adjacent to existing open space and trails.

East West Route: We don’t have it now because it was not planned into the subdivisions, park, and golf course. We may never have it because the lack of planning then makes it almost impossible to put it in now.

Affordable housing: We must abide by the state statute but it must be done with ideas that conform to Highlands philosophy and not those suggested by developers to maximize their profits.

Retirement Housing: What is retirement housing? Over half of my neighbors are retired and live on one to five acre lots. The need for "retirement housing" is an idea suggested by developers to circumvent the density requirements of our zoning.

Commercial Development: Commercial development in Highland should be designed to serve the needs of our residents and not to attract shoppers from other cities.

A Question To Ask An Incumbant

1) In the 2007-2008 budget there is a line item listed as Lone Peak PSD Reimbursement in the amount of $140,000. What, specifically is this for?

2) What is a Town Center exaction fee as listed in the budget? It shows no revenue to the general fund but $300,000 in the capitol improvement fund for the building.


3) Why does the City Administrator from Alpine receive a salary from Highlands payroll? What service does he provide for Highland?

A little history of the East West Corridor

The Corridor

The East-West corridor is a concept that has been around almost since the incorporation of Highland. The idea is that there would someday be a need for traffic to get easily across the river from the Alpine Highway to 4800 West. The problem has always been the park that was built by the developmental center for the use of the handicapped kids and the Tri-City Golf course that was built by American Fork, Lehi and Pleasant Grove both with State and Federal money. To change the use of those properties to anything other than their original intent is so cost prohibitive that an economically feasible route has never been found. To add to the original problem the existing streets from the Alpine Highway West to 7200 West close to where the intended route across the river was did not have the necessary right-of-way. So a new street was planned and the route was charted through vacant property to be constructed with an adequate right-of way as the property developed. This would not effect any existing homes and those who moved into new homes along the route would realize that the street was much wider than a normal residential street and be aware of the eventual use.

9600 NORTH

The recent discussions regarding 9600 North were prompted by its tentative designation as the regional East West corridor by MAG (Mountainland Association of Governments) and the Cities published intention to include this designation as a part of the master plan. Currently this is only a planning concept which is long term, meaning not to take place for a fairly long time, however, the recent rapid growth in the region and the fact that the chairman of the MAG committee is our own Mayor lends validity to this concept and makes if much more likely to be acted upon.

Congestion at 4800 West

The students attending Lone Peak High School create congestion on 4800 West and 11000 N (SR92) just before the start of school and just after school dismisses each day for about forty-five minutes to an hour. This, along with the proposed Wal-Mart in Cedar Hills, has prompted the resurgence of the East West issue . The school transportation issue is one that has a changing dynamic. As the growth has taken place the School District has made plans for the construction of a new High School to the West of Highland. Currently the high school students who live North of 10400 North attend Lone Peak and those who live South of 10400 North attend American Fork High. This will change with the new High School and go a long way to solving the traffic problem at Lone Peak as it will remove the need for those students to travel eastward to Lone Peak from western Highland. Also, the State is currently in the planning stages of widening 11000 North and 4800 West to five lanes (two each direction and a center turn lane). This will also mitigate the congestion at the beginning and end of each school day in that intersection.