Chapter Five
LAND USE

The purpose of the Land Use Element is to establish and define the desired character and appropriate location of all future land uses within the City. This is accomplished by establishing guidelines for the distribution, location, and character of future land use development. A land use plan is traditionally composed of a future land use map and detailed textual description in the General Plan itself.

The purpose of the Future Land Use map is to communicate the geographic distribution and coverage of various land uses, while the textual element of the plan is meant to define the use classifications and sufficiently communicate the manner in which development should occur.

The primary goal in determining future land uses is to determine development patterns which build upon already existing and established patterns. It is also meant to provide for effective, efficient, appropriate, and sustainable uses of land in a way that promotes compatibility between those uses and maintains the goals of the General Plan.

Existing Conditions

Approximately 5,300 acres of land, in whole or in part, in West Jordan remains vacant or is used for agricultural uses. It is expected that the majority of this unimproved land will be developed within the next 20 to 30 years. By 2060, it is anticipated that the City will have a population of approximately 180,000 residents. According to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, Salt Lake County is projected to add approximately 600,000 residents by the year 2065.

Current Land Use

Single-family residential development is the predominant land use in the City, occupying 6,384.99 acres or 30.87% of the total land area within the City. This is followed by vacant and agricultural land which occupies 22.22% of the City. Multi-family residential occupies 3.32% while commercial comprises 2.99% as shown in Table 5.1.

The eastern portion of the City is essentially developed which means that any future development, or redevelopment, will consist primarily of infill development. The western portion of the City is where the majority of growth will occur in the future.

TABLE 5.1
EXISTING LAND USES

Source: Salt Lake County GIS Parcel Data

Land Use	Acreage	Percentage
Single-Family Residential Detached	6,384.99	30.87%
Vacant / Agriculture	4,594.98	22.22%
Roads, Railroads & Canals	3,260.25	15.76%
Public Facilities	1,768.37	8.55%
Industrial	1,611.14	7.79%
Parks and Open Lands	770.98	3.73%
Multi-Family Residential	685.19	3.32%
Commercial	619.08	2.99%
Schools	484.15	2.34%
Religious Institutions	244.37	1.18%
Professional Office	112.40	0.55%
Group Care Facility	93.30	0.45%
Medical	51.64	0.25%
Total	20,680.84	100.00%

 

TABLE 5.2
COST OF VARIOUS LAND USE TYPES

Land Use	Community Pros	Community Cons	Financial Pros	Financial Cons
Parks, Open Space, and trails	- Provide recreational opportunities for members of various socioeconomic classes - Safer community, improves community wellness - Promotes physical fitness - Enhances property values - Ensures infrastructure are not destroyed due to natural hazards by providing a buffer			- No opportunity to gain sales tax and/or property tax revenue - Funds used for maintenance could be used to improve other City services - Trails require purchases of contiguous space, which may be costly depending on property owners’ desires
Single-family residential	- Residents perceive single-family homes as having high value and are considered a major objective for many individuals - Greater privacy for residents - Allows residents to express living preferences within yards - Less congestion on roads in neighborhoods - More defensible with less exits, which deters crime	- Places an intense burden on existing water and sewer facilities if a zoning change with higher density is implemented - Increases demand for vehicular travel and makes it difficult for residents to walk or cycle to places. - Gateways into single-family residential neighborhoods can become crowded during peak travel time	- Relatively low public safety service cost per acre	- High infrastructure maintenance cost per acre - Increases funds for road, sidewalk maintenance, and snowplowing as lane miles increase - Increases utility installation and maintenance costs - Low property tax and sales tax revenue per acre
Multi-family residential	- Can create easier access to transit - Efficient way to increase supply of housing - Less of a carbon impact - Provides housing to younger households and modest income earners - Creates saving costs for police, ambulance, and fire services (in terms of travel time) - Prevents urban sprawl into farmlands	- Places an intense burden on existing water and sewer facilities if a zoning change with higher density is implemented - Established residents do not prefer this type of housing (residents are open to middle housing, but not next to where they live)	- Relatively higher property tax and sales tax per acre - Lower infrastructure costs per housing unit, lower infrastructure maintenance costs per person, per acre	- Higher public safety costs per acre than single family homes
Industrial	- May create jobs for residents - Allows for companies that have complementary services to be near each other, which saves costs for them and brings more job growth to the City	- Makes surrounding land less ideal for other uses without sufficient buffering - Excess noise and sometimes pollution	- Relatively low public safety service cost per acre, per $1 million in value - Relatively low infrastructure maintenance cost per acre, & per $1 million in property value - Commercial property tax rates	- Not a lot of sales tax revenue
Agricultural	- Maintains historical character of the City - Less costly on police, fire, sewer, and road maintenance - Allows for groundwater recharge/reduces water runoff	- Potentially uses more water, especially if the farm is crop-based - Little property tax return
Commercial	- Provides goods and services for purchase to residents and creates a local economy - Creates jobs for residents - Local businesses create community character	- Big box retailers often have large parking lots that are a waste of land use while creating greater lane miles and sidewalk miles around them to be maintained - Once vacated, big box retail is hard to retrofit - Local businesses may have a hard time competing with established commercial/ large commercial	- Brings sales tax revenue into the City
Office	- Creates jobs near residents - Potentially decreases east/ west traffic issues during peak times with more residents working closer to home and residents from other cities commuting into the City	- Changing work landscape may lessen demand for office space, creating vacancies
Research Park	- Research parks create high-value activities that need support and attract business investment. - Research parks create opportunities to partner with higher education institutions or other research-based corporations - Creates jobs with various income potentials	- Research Parks need an attractive tenant to bring in other high-value tenants to not be a burden on the regional community
Public Facilities	- Creates quicker service times for residents - Provides cultural and recreation opportunities - Encourages volunteerism - Improves Public Health - Increases quality of life	- Does not generate revenue		- These facilities are maintained using income from various types of taxes
TOD/Station Areas	- Incentivizes public transit - Increases affordable housing - Provides opportunity for mixed use - Increases tax base for both property tax and sales tax - Station area planning is required by the State, so TOD areas can help fulfill these requirements	- Station area plans cannot be implemented without willing property owners - Places an intense burden on existing water and sewer facilities if a zoning change with higher density is implemented without careful planning