First round of Station Area Planning (SAP) Technical Assistance Funding Awards Announced

The Wasatch Front Regional Council is excited to announce the first round of Station Area Planning Technical Assistance (SAP) program awards. A Station Area Plan (SAP) is intended to promote shared objectives such as housing availability and affordability, access to opportunities, sustainable environmental conditions, and transportation choices and connections, all in line with the Wasatch Choice Vision. As a result of the 2022 state Legislative session, HB462 requires a city that has a rail or BRT station to develop a Station Area Plan for it. Awards were presented recently at the Regional Growth Committee meeting on August 18th. SAP program partners WFRC, the Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG), Utah Transit Authority (UTA), and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) awarded four projects in the WFRC area. The projects are for transit stations located in Midvale, Millcreek, Murray, Roy, and West Jordan.

“It’s an exciting day to see the first round of funds awarded to four projects that are at the forefront of planning new neighborhoods around the transit stations,” said WFRC Chair Jeff Silvestrini, Mayor of Millcreek. “Thanks to money the State had the foresight to invest, our communities will have the technical support they need to plan for growth and developments that are inspired by the Wasatch Choice Vision.”

This round of SAP program awards amounts to $790,000 for plans incorporating seven TRAX and FrontRunner stations across five municipalities. Two projects are joint efforts: West Jordan and Midvale will be collaborating on three TRAX Red Line station areas that overlap the cities’ border; and Murray and Millcreek will be working together on the Murray North TRAX station, located in Murray but whose area extends north into Millcreek. Such multijurisdictional collaboration aligns with the WFRC’s role as a convener of communities and partners to share ideas and create joint plans and visions.

The Station Area Planning Technical Assistance (SAP) program provides funding and assistance to communities to implement HB462 (titled Housing Affordability Amendments, a summary of which is located here), which passed in the 2022 Utah Legislative session. Communities interested in future opportunities through the SAP program are encouraged to apply for funding through the bi-monthly application cycle. The next application deadline is September 19th, 2022.