Santaquin residents discuss city growth during online workshop
Customers exit Leslie's Family Tree during the final day of business for the restaurant in Santaquin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. The long popular Santaquin restaurant went out of business during the economic downturn of the COVID-19-pandemic. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Leslie Broadhead, owner of Leslie’s Family Tree, tallies a customer’s pick-up order while McKenna Dansie, 12, carries finished plates into the kitchen during the final day of business for Broadhead’s restaurant in Santaquin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Jim and Annalee Gause, of Santaquin, enjoy a meal during the final day of business for Leslie's Family Tree in Santaquin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Cindy Groo, left, of Spanish Fork, and Angie Nielson, of Santaquin, rip off pieces of scones during the final day of business for Leslie's Family Tree in Santaquin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Photos of veterans from owner Leslie Broadhead’s family are displayed during the final day of business for Leslie's Family Tree in Santaquin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Mementos are displayed during the final day of business for Leslie's Family Tree in Santaquin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Leslie Broadhead, owner of Leslie’s Family Tree, looks out the window as she tallies a customer’s pick-up order during the final day of business for her restaurant in Santaquin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Santaquin residents discussed population and commercial growth during an online workshop on Thursday that focused on how the small south Utah County city can adapt to the rapid growth it has seen in recent decades.
A graph of Santaquin’s population growth over time, which was presented during the “Imagine Santaquin” workshop, showed that the city had less than 5,000 residents until 2000. As of 2020, there are 14,033 residents.
“You can see that, for decades, we had kind of a stagnant growth,” said Christie Oostema Brown, an urban planner with People + Place, a firm that works with municipalities and stakeholders on regional planning and visioning. “And then, in about 1980, 1990, things started to pick up. And in recent years even more so, so that now we’ve got a population of, conservatively, 14,000 people.”
Brown, who helped prepare Santaquin’s general plan update in August 2020, noted that “Utah has tended to grow more quickly than population estimates estimate, so it’s probably a rather conservative estimate.”
By 2050, Santaquin’s population is projected to reach 40,390, according to Brown, who said that equates to over 26,000 new residents and 6,700 new households “that we need to be thinking about and accommodating as we look toward the future.
“So that’s a lot of change,” she said. “That means that the city’s population will grow almost three times.”
Brown also noted that Santaquin is “an incredibly young city, even by Utah standards,” with approximately 70% of its population born after 1981.
Santaquin residents responded with mixed opinions about growth trends in the small, agriculture-oriented city, with some voicing “optimism” and others expressing “some real concern,” as Brown put it.
Residents were asked, “In one word, what are you most concerned about regarding your city?” In response, residents said overpopulation, overgrowth, crowding, commercialization, traffic, taxes, quality of life and division.
“Division, that’s a big one,” said Brown. “And we’ll be hopefully working on that as we work together on visioning and general planning; unifying and trusting.”
When asked what city in Utah they want Santaquin to look like in 2050, residents answered: Alpine, Highland, Woodland Hills, Salem, Lindon, Heber City, Midway, Smithfield and St. George. One person said, “Santaquin 20 years ago.”
In response to a question about what residents want to see more of in Santaquin in the future, some residents said they hoped to see more trails, bike paths, open spaces, connectivity and recreational activities, while others said they wanted to see commercial development, local business and agritourism.
Santaquin officials recently discussed adjusting the boundary between Utah and Juab counties in order to accommodate population growth and promote agritourism in the city.
The city will host a second “Imagine Santaquin” workshop at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. To register for the workshop, visit https://www.imaginesantaquin.com/get-involved.
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