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Murray • As city leaders look to the future, they see growth that avoids urban sprawl in this suburban city. The expansion will be up — as in taller buildings downtown.
In addition, development will take place in established areas that have infrastructure already in place, Mayor Dan Snarr said at Murray's third annual economic development symposium last week.
About 80 business and community leaders attended the event, titled "Current Projects & Future Trends," at Intermountain Medical Center's Doty Education Center.
"We've had some challenges but we've persevered," Snarr said, adding that Murray has made progress in "bringing parts of the city back to life."
The mayor credits this success to the city's long history of "envisioning what we can become with planning."
"We are on the road to success and I think our future is bright," Snarr said.
Tim Tingey, community and economic development director, told the group that an ordinance allowing builders to go as high as they want in the City Center District will enhance economic development.
"We want to encourage density," Tingey said.
Land in Murray is already 98 percent built out, so planning officials thought unlimited height and density was the way to go.
The district lies between the TRAX rail lines on the west; Center Street and Jones Court on the east; 4800 South and several properties on the north; and Little Cottonwood Creek on the south. Project plans call for a mix of cultural, entertainment and civic uses.
The ordinance, approved March 15 by the City Council, sets minimum height requirements of 40 feet or four stories in parts of the district. Previously, the area had a three-story limit.
Also speaking at the symposium was Brooke Whitebread, marketing manager for Fashion Place Mall, who said the shopping center is in the second phase of an expansion.
In the first phase, in 2009, the shopping center's interior was remodeled and NordÂstrom moved to the north side after its old building there was demolished. The current phase has been adding 98,000 square feet of retail shops, including Crate & Barrel, Corner Bakery, California Pizza Kitchen, Coldwater Creek and Utah's first Sephora store.
"As a community partner, all of us at Fashion Place are excited about the expansion," Whitebread said.
Greg Miller, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Group of Cos., also is pleased with being part of Murray, where his late father opened his first car dealership in 1979. The company now has four dealerships on State Street in Murray.
"I've always had a soft spot for Murray," Miller said.