Riverdale decision helps thaw impasse on Motor-Vu plans, but doesn’t end flap
Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
The site of the ex-Coleman's Motor-Vu drive-in theater in Riverdale, photographed Thursday, July 13, 2023. A developer wants to build a 68-home development on the 20-acre plot.RIVERDALE — The developers of the ex-Coleman’s Motor-Vu drive-in site in Riverdale are still hammering out some issues with city leaders before moving forward with the planned housing project at the location.
Still, the Riverdale City Council decision last month approving the site plan for the 68-home project resolves perhaps the largest sticking point, says Jeff Walker, lawyer for the Sandy-based developer of the plans, Goldcrest Homes. He said he’s “grateful” to city staffers and leaders for last month’s action, but not yet ready to rescind the notice of claim Goldcrest sent city leaders in July warning of a possible lawsuit over the lingering issues between the sides.
Presuming the other issues are resolved, however, he thinks development of the site infrastructure — streets, curbing, utility connections — could start within perhaps four months. New housing would follow after that.
Development of the 20-acre site that housed the now abandoned drive-in has been a focus of sometimes acrimonious deliberation among developers and city officials.
One of the key issues was the proposed placement of the exit and entry point to the development off 1050 West just south of the Utah Military Academy. Some Riverdale officials worried the location would lead to traffic congestion and had sought its placement further north, aligning it with 5150 South. Goldcrest officials said the Utah Department of Transportation, which oversees 1050 West maintenance, had picked the entry-exit point and city leaders ultimately relented to the proposal as put forward.
The continuing issues yet to be resolved, Walker said, revolve around the water to be supplied to the homes at the site and responsibility for covering a canal that traverses the area.
In approving the site plans on Aug. 15, Mayor Braden Mitchell expressed hope that Goldcrest reps would still be open to the possibility of relocating the 1050 West exit-entry point. Walker, though, expressed little likelihood of that happening given UDOT’s role in overseeing issues related to 1050 West access.
Moreover, a potential fix floated to change the exit-entry point would be prohibitively expensive, around $1 million just to move some power towers at the other proposed access point, Walker said.
