The Oakley City Council will soon consider whether to proceed with downsized plans for the town center after a months-long discussion with the Oakley Planning Commission that included multiple public hearings and private brainstorming sessions with city residents.
Local businessman Steve Smith revised his master plan for the Oakley core twice in September based on community feedback that the project had become too large and would detract from the area’s small-town feel.
The previous design, which he presented to the Planning Commission in August, had a convenience store, car wash and gas station with 16 pumps on the west side of S.R. 32, as well as a diner, grocery store, post office, town hall, food bank and retail spaces on the opposite side. The blueprints additionally outlined apartment buildings and a series of parking lots with more than 400 total spaces.
The plan has since been downsized, and the most recent design brought before the Planning Commission last week included efforts to prioritize green space and ease concerns about traffic flow.
The North Block, which is sandwiched between Weber Canyon Road and Center Street, now has the Oakley Diner on the northwest corner and two retail spaces along Weber Canyon Road, with one marked as a mixed-use building that could accommodate apartments on the top floor.
Meanwhile, the new post office facilities would be on S.R. 32, and the town hall, a hardware store and Ken’s Kash Market would be situated along Center Street. On the corner of S.R. 32 and Center Street, there is space for a food pantry and Amazon storage lockers.
On the southern side of Center Street, the site design shows three more mixed-use retail and apartment buildings with a park and pavilion on the corner of S.R. 32. A building solely dedicated to apartments is slightly to the west of Cattlemen’s Hall, and a convenience store with eight gas pumps and a car wash occupies most of the northwest corner of the block.
However, approximately a dozen residents told Smith and the Planning Commission that they were still against the idea of a developed city center, questioning whether Oakley had enough people to economically sustain multiple retail outlets and decrying the inclusion of “low-income” apartments.
Smith clarified the apartments would be considered “attainable” housing for employees commuting to the Kamas Valley, though, and said his goal wasn’t to bring Park City part-timers or tourists to Oakley.
Planning commissioners acknowledged that the community appeared happier with the latest designs compared to the plan presented in August, but there was a philosophical split among members regarding how to approach the project’s future, with some wanting to continue the discussion with Smith for further revisions while others favored forwarding the plan to the City Council.
Ultimately, the Planning Commission decided it would be more efficient to have the City Council consider Smith’s proposal, as the master planned development document is only the first step in a process that could take up to 15 years, if the plan is approved and executed as it currently stands.
The Planning Commission’s move to forward the proposal to City Council does not mean the project has received the green light from Oakley, though. Even if the City Council agrees with the master plan, it will then need to enter into a development agreement. That’s when most of the details surrounding the site plan, including a final layout and traffic patterns, would be ironed out.