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Hundreds of Pleasant Grove residents gathered at a Planning Commission meeting Thursday night to protest a downtown revival plan that would allow skyscrapers and potentially close some roads and make others one-way streets.
Called the Downtown 2020 Action Plan, city staffers said it had been in the works for more than two years and was needed to revitalize downtown, provide more housing, preserve historic buildings and strengthen design requirements. One hundred and fifty people signed up for three-minute slots to speak against the plan, and commissioners said few had signed up to speak in favor. Local theater supporters spoke in favor, saying the plan would provide a downtown theater. Because there were still so many people who wanted to speak and the commission needed to end the meeting, commissioners postponed a decision. The public hearing will continue at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Pleasant Grove Jr. High School. The plan would permit five-story buildings and allow developers to seek taller buildings under special permits. Residents repeatedly said developers are waiting for approval of the plan so they can propose a 10-story building. It would also potentially allow Main Street to be closed from 100 North to Center Street, and 100 South to be closed from Main Street to 100 East. In addition, Main Street could potentially become a one-way street from Center Street to 200 South, and 100 South could be made one-way from Main Street to 100 West. Over and over again, residents asked commissioners to send the plan back for more public input before making a recommendation to the City Council. Residents said again and again that they did not want their downtown to become an urban "Little New York" or San Diego, and wanted the charm of a small-town downtown. When commissioners said just before 10 p.m. that they still had 96 people to hear from, residents became angry, standing in the audience to demand another meeting. "Do you know how unfair this is to us?" said one man, shouting from the audience. "We have things to say and we need to have another meeting where we can say what we have to say without being shut down." Saying they were not trying to shut down comment but were running out of time, commissioners then abandoned the sign-up sheet of speakers, letting the man take the microphone. The man then took to the stage, using a box to block the light of a projector to show how a skyscraper would block the view as he yelled about being angry and demanded more time, repeatedly bringing the audience to cheers. When he sat down, he was given a standing ovation. |
