Adopt principles that promote quality growth locally and throughout the region.
The Wasatch Choice for 2040 is embodied in nine regional Growth Principles. These reflect many of the values held by Utahns and were drafted based on a review of input from community workshops, open houses, committee deliberations, surveys, and polling. The Growth Principles were adopted by the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC), Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG), and many of the local governments in the metropolitan area in late 2005.
The Growth Principles promote quality growth throughout the region. WFRC uses these shared principles to provide a foundation for the organization’s plans and programs and establish the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) goals. Together with other required transportation factors, the Growth Principles provide the framework for developing performance criteria, such as dealing with environmental quality, economic growth, cost effectiveness, enhanced mobility, safety, and other like criteria. These criteria are then used as a tool in identifying projects for the RTP that best fulfill the objectives of the Growth Principles.
- Provide public infrastructure that is efficient and adequately maintained.
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- Promote redevelopment to better utilize existing infrastructure.
- Optimize use and maintenance of existing infrastructure. Promote compact development consistent with market demand. Encourage contiguous growth to reduce infrastructure expenses.
- Develop long term funding sources for infrastructure development and maintenance.
- Encourage cooperation and coordination in the use of transportation and utility corridors and rights-of-way.
- Provide regional mobility through a variety of interconnected transportation choices.
- Develop a balanced, multi-modal transportation system.
- Coordinate transportation with regional employment, housing, educational and activity centers.
- Encourage future commercial and residential areas within close proximity of each other to reduce travel distances.
- Encourage a balance of jobs and housing in each part of the region to reduce travel distances.
- Support actions that reduce growth in per capita vehicle miles of travel.
- Integrate local land use with regional transportation systems.
- Land-use planning and decisions remain a function of local communities.
- Preserve corridors for future infrastructure needs.
- Coordinate regional transportation with centers of development.
- Coordinate transportation decisions with schools and educational centers.
- Make land-use and transportation decisions based on comprehensive understanding of their impact on each other.
- Provide housing for people in all life stages and incomes.
- Encourage an adequate supply of moderately priced housing near regional job centers.
- Encourage land use and housing policies to accommodate the need for a variety of housing types throughout the region.
- Encourage housing and other development near transit to maximize the efficiency of the public transportation system.
- Ensure public health and safety.
- Encourage communities to develop transportation facilities that promote physical activity and healthy living.
- Encourage accessibility of housing to other destinations to enable the routine use of walking and bike paths.
- Provide for a safe and adequate water supply for culinary, sanitation and fire protection needs.
- Promote interconnected streets to reduce travel distances.
- Provide efficient police and emergency access.
- Provide safe access to, and use of, all modes of transportation.
- Enhance the regional economy.
- Improve mobility to foster a robust economy.
- Use transportation investments and land use decisions to develop the regional economy.
- Transportation and land use decisions should lead to improved quality of life to help retain and recruit businesses and labor.
- Transportation and land use decisions should help keep our region an affordable place to live and do business.
- Promote regional collaboration.
- Encourage collaboration among government, business, education, civic and community organizations.
- Coordinate development and maintenance of regionally significant utilities and transportation facilities.
- Include a broad base of involvement in the planning process.
- Coordinate local and regional planning efforts.
- Promote the sharing of information and expertise.
- Strengthen sense of community.
- Preserve environmental, cultural, and historical assets.
- Promote unity and cohesiveness while valuing diversity.
- Avoid physically dividing communities.
- Use transportation to bolster town centers.
- Protect and enhance the environment.
- Protect and enhance the natural environment.
- Enhance the aesthetic beauty of our built environment.
- Promote conservation of energy, water, and regionally significant critical lands.
- Enhance air and water quality.
- Encourage conservation of open space and irreplaceable natural resources in land use decisions.
- Create and enhance access to areas of natural beauty and recreation.
- Encourage community trails coordinated with regional/state trail systems.
For additional information regarding the RTP, please contact Jory Johner.
