Draper City Council Study Session and Regular Meeting – July 7, 2026
Draper City Council Study Session and Regular Meeting – July 7, 2026
The Draper City Council held a study session beginning at 12:45 PM followed by a regular meeting at 7:00 PM on July 7, 2026. The study session covered presentations on the River to Range Trail, solid waste service options, and capital improvement projects. The regular meeting included public hearings on zoning amendments and a resolution to contract with a private solid waste hauler. All votes were unanimous (4-0) with Councilmember Dalin absent.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from June 2 and June 9, 2026, and Resolution 2634 certifying a tax rate for the Traverse Ridge Special Service District for the 2027 taxable year. (Motion by Councilmember Lowry, second by Johnson, approved 4-0)
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ken Davis (3379 East Daneborg Circle) – Republican nominee for Salt Lake County District Attorney, introduced himself and offered to open a direct line between the DA's office and Draper.
- Kathleen Anderson (1923 Ken Avenue, Salt Lake City) – Publicly thanked U.S. Army Major Mike Green for his service and presented gifts on behalf of herself and her husband.
- Jim Stitz (13122 Vista Station #427) – Expressed concern about water consumption in Utah and Draper, urging the council to adopt stronger water conservation policies.
- Chris Hill (5183 North Luke Street, Eagle Mountain) – Expressed disappointment that his new solid waste company was not considered for the RFP due to lack of operating history, despite his 30 years of industry experience.
- Tyler Ashby (1116 East 132nd South) – Stated he is a "disruptor" seeking truth and justice, referencing past city council attendance.
During public hearings (5A, 5B, 5C), no public comment was offered.
Discussion Items
- River to Range Trail Study (Design Workshop) – Chris Geddes presented four corridor options to connect the Porter Rockwell Trail to the Jordan River Parkway, crossing I-15 and railroad tracks. No preferred alignment was recommended; costs ranged from approximately $7 million (northern option) to $15 million (option with two tunnels). The council discussed coordinating with UDOT's I-15 widening project to reduce costs. Councilmember Lowry expressed interest in pursuing two access points.
- Solid Waste Service Options – John Cooley, Scott, and Robert Markle presented an analysis showing the city's current rate of $15/month (base) is unsustainable; continuing city service would require raising rates to $25/month base, while contracting with ACE Recycling and Disposal would result in a $19/month base (including city overhead). With a second can, the combined rate would be $29.50 (private) vs. $40 (city). The council heard appreciation for current city employees and concerns about their future. The mayor noted that selling existing trucks would offset new public works facility costs.
- Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Updates – Scott reviewed road projects: 138th/Bangerter widening (August completion), I-15/Bangerter turn lane delays, pavement maintenance, Pioneer Road, and others. Rhett presented Parks CIP: Jensen Farm Park Phase III completion, trail bridge replacement at Pioneer/Waynesworld, Phoebe Brown Phase II stalled by legal issues, bridge replacement in Suncrest, and other projects.
- Council Manager Issues – Councilmember Tasha expressed frustration with the VEC non-emergency number (840-4000) being frequently unanswered, asking for data and long-term solutions. Mayor and staff acknowledged challenges with dispatcher shortages and noted interim patching to records department during business hours. Also discussed rodeo event (July 10-11), recognizing Hutch and his wife as grand marshals.
- Public Hearings on Zoning Amendments –
- 5A (Corner Lots) – Ordinance 1726 to clarify setback definitions for lots abutting private roads passed unanimously.
- 5B (Detached ADU Conversions) – Ordinance 1727 proposed allowing conversion of existing accessory buildings to ADUs with reduced setbacks. The council denied it 4-0, citing concerns about universal application without neighbor recourse.
- 5C (Kuwahara Nursery Rezone) – Ordinances 1728-1730 to rezone 1.95 acres from commercial office to RM2 multifamily and approve a development agreement for 21 single-family homes. The council denied it 4-0 due to density, reduced lot sizes, parking concerns, and deviation from existing zoning.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Consent Calendar items (minutes and Resolution 2634).
- Approved Ordinance 1726 (corner lot setbacks).
- Denied Ordinance 1727 (ADU conversion).
- Denied Ordinances 1728, 1729, and 1730 (Kuwahara Nursery rezone and development agreement).
- Approved Resolution 2635 authorizing an agreement with ACE Recycling and Disposal for residential solid waste and recyclable collection services on public streets, effective for a base contract of 4.5 years with renewal options. The council directed staff to bring forward a consolidated fee schedule reflecting the new rates.
- Directed Mayor and staff to negotiate with UDOT regarding the I-15 widening project to include pedestrian bridge crossings and address Bangerter intersection congestion.
- Directed Staff to explore improved answering of the VEC non-emergency number or alternative communication for residents.
Meeting Transcript
Since we're a little behind. Um, first item on our agenda is the a discussion on the river to range trail from design workshop. You guys want to come up? And for the record, the river to range trail is a trail at the point that will connect both with the Jordan River and ultimately Porter Rockwell in Draper. Go ahead, sir. Thank you. Um, thanks for having me tonight. I'm Chris Geddes with Design Workshop. Um, good to see many of you again. We were here uh year and a half ago or so for station area planning. Um so the river to range trail is is the idea of this is is the purpose is to connect the city um from the Porter Rockwell Trail to the uh the Jordan River Parkway. Um obviously we have some um important infrastructural elements that have prevented that from happening um to date. So this project really looks at what are the opportunities to do that. Um, what is feasible? Um, what are the corridor opportunities that we can connect to, and then importantly, how do we support future funding and implementation as opportunities arise. Um the project study area is basically from 123rd south to 146 south, um, and then Porter Rock Whale Trail to the Jordan River Parkway. You can see the outline in your map. Um, it includes a lot of your your core residential areas that includes the emerging point development at Vista Station. Um, so there's a lot going on, and the opportunity to really help connect the city east to west is something that's been really important to um to staff. Um so from a process standpoint, um the first thing we did was we came and we actually walked on the ground, looked at opportunities, used um aerial views just to identify what uh potential um locations could be for trail a trail connection. Uh we walked with city staff, we had the opportunity to go up and down the corridor, really uh primarily identifying what parks and and um uh existing trails we could connect from, uh, and then where were the real feasible opportunities to actually cross I-15 and the railroad tracks. Um from there we don't do a pretty detailed analysis about cost and benefit and the amount the number of uh draper residents that in um the uh uh potential trail connections uh could serve, and from that we shortlisted it to four different um opportunities, which I'll talk through here in just a minute. I want to point out that this is this does not designate a a preferred trail connection. There are a lot of unknowns, there are a lot of um heavy infrastructure projects that are that are planned in the future. There's the point development that um is is occurring as as we speak. So what we wanted to do is provide options so that as opportunities for partnerships, opportunities for funding came up, you can respond to those in a way that makes sense for the city. Um so opportunities and constraints um really there are opportunities to connect to existing trail corridors really throughout both east and west uh uh draper. Um so really thinking about where are those opportunities, specifically off-street connections. What we try to do in this plan was avoid um putting um bikes next to vehicles. So in in most cases here, we we do completely avoid um uh those those bike vehicle interfaces with a few um exceptions. Um lots of coordination with regional partners, UDOT, UTA, WFRC is here today, uh POMSLA, which is the point development group, uh really trying to leverage the opportunity that is there, but also make sure that we're thinking about your existing residents and what makes sense um for them from a kind of geographic standpoint. Uh the Vista uh Vistin area or sorry, VIST and Vista Station area plan was was considered in here. Uh you'll see that. Um, and and if you don't know, there is also an I an I-15 northbound study being done by UDOT today that is looking to expand um the the width of the highway north of Bangarder um through the study area. So that's something to consider in the future. Um so we talked about I-15, we talked about the rail tracks. Spangler Highway is obviously uh a constraint. Topography, especially on the south uh east side of the site as you um as you head up on the point itself and go to the rock port of Rockwell uh trail can be a challenge. So there's a big great change there, um, and thinking about existing land uses and development patterns. Um so what we learned through the study, um there are really limited um crossing opportunities uh at I-15 in particular. Again, we went up and down the corridor to see what the opportunities um could be, and we really landed on four um three and a half, if you will, um, real opportunities to cross the to cross the highway and connect to existing trail systems. Uh again, existing infrastructure important to really leverage that. Um we've looked a lot at at drainage easements um and uh and city-owned uh properties to consider where trails might be appropriate, um, and then excuse me, implementation is gonna be critical. This can be a phased approach, but it's obviously those big ticket pieces of crossing a highway or crossing the tracks that really require us to think long term about how we implement the full trail system. So the short listed quarter options. Again, 123 south on the north there, 146 on the south. We had uh six options to begin with. We really paired it down to three or four, um, which one is a 1A and 1B. Um so I'll go through each of those individually. Um option one, northern option um A, uh which is 2.1.
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