FARMINGTON -- Developers of the proposed Cottages at Station Park project here will have to wait longer before they can proceed with their 418-dwelling development. Members of the Farmington City Planning Commission voted last Thursday night to table a request for recommendation of preliminary PUD Master Plan approval for the development. An accompanying request for preliminary plat approval was also delayed. The project, to be located on 106.5 acres west of I-15 and 1525 West, south of Shepard Lane, east of the UTA railroad tracks and north of Burke Lane, is being proposed by Danville Land Investments, LLC and Woodside Homes. Developers, said representative Thayne Smith, have put a lot of effort into the project since its request for a rezoning of the property to R-4 and AE and schematic plan approval was granted in mid-November. The latest plan includes modifications made after a May 11 commission meeting.

"We've created 2.55 parking spaces per unit," said Smith, "plus one guest parking space. Each of our 'cottage units' has two-car garages and the area will include HOA maintained common space."

Residents, he added, will enjoy a pool, club house, parks and a "prime locale" near a transportation hub plus convenient access into the proposed Station Park development.

Despite the nearby transportation infrastructure, concerns still remain about the project's potential traffic impact on Shepard Lane. Those concerns drew comments from officials and resident Bruce Richards.

"The Station Park road needs to be there first before any development takes place," he said. "Without it, Phase I of the project has no outlet other than Shepard Lane."

Although stating he supports development at the site, another resident, Bob McKean, said he was concerned that city officials had developed "a little bit of a blank check" attitude toward the project.

"The planning commission," he said, "needs to double check its facts and figures first."

Paul Heyward, the third and final public speaker to address commission members, brought up another issue.

"If any of the homes in the R-4 clusters or on private roads are 150 feet from a public road," he said, "they will require their own fire sprinkler systems."

City engineer Paul Hirst came forward to expand on earlier expressed concerns about traffic impacts.

"We can't dump traffic from this onto Shepard Lane," he said. "These transportation issues need to be resolved with adjoining property owners."

Smith responded by asserting "There is a solution to the problem. We're doing transportation surveys to see how we can handle that and the railroad crossing," he said.

But commission member Cory Ritz did not sound convinced. "We're ready for that area of the city with regard to transportation issues," said Ritz. "We can't move more traffic to Shepard Lane and 1525 West. I'm not ready to move ahead tonight until we solve this."

Ritz followed by proposing motions to table both the bid for recommendation of preliminary PUD Master Plan ap-proval and the request for preliminary plat approval.

bmickelson@davisclipper.com