Residents near the Outlets at Traverse Mountain pushed back at a Thursday, Aug. 13 hearing against a developer's bid to flip 5 acres from housing to highway commercial at one of Lehi's busiest intersections.

Perry Commercial, a Murray-based firm active in the Mountain West since the late 1970s, asked the Lehi Planning Commission to amend the Traverse Mountain Area Plan, reclassifying the parcel at Timpanogos Highway and Mountain View Road from High Density Residential to Highway Commercial. The change would open the land to freeway-oriented retail, restaurants or other commercial uses in place of what was planned as high-density housing.

Perry Commercial has not publicly stated what it intends to build on the site.

The hearing, held at 7 p.m. in the Lehi Civic Center Council Chambers, marked the first time residents could formally weigh in on the proposal. Perry Commercial first floated the concept at the commission's April 23 meeting, as we reported Aug. 4, describing it as a plan to move residential units out of West Canyon and add them to locations near Timpanogos Highway. The city's public hearing notice formalized that concept into a straight land-use reclassification.

The commission's role is advisory. The City Council holds final authority on the area plan amendment, though no council vote date has been publicly scheduled.

A corridor in flux

The rezone site sits in a commercial corridor already undergoing rapid transformation. Perry Commercial broke ground in late May on The Collective at Morning Vista, a 134,000-square-foot retail center at Timpanogos Highway and Morning Vista Road developed with CenterCal Properties and anchored by Whole Foods Market, targeting a 2028 opening. Just southeast of the Outlets, The Shops at Sky View, a 300,000-plus-square-foot development anchored by Target and Life Time, expects its first phase in 2027.

UDOT's $621 million freeway connection between I-15 and Mountain View Corridor at 2100 North, part of a nearly $1.4 billion state investment in northwest Utah County, began construction in March and is expected to run through late 2028.

CenterCal Properties founder and CEO Jean Paul Wardy cited the tech economy and residential growth as drivers in a May 6 press release announcing The Collective's groundbreaking.

Walker agreement returns after July denial

Also on the Aug. 13 agenda, the Estate of Nancy Walker brought a restricted development agreement for 2.581 acres at 915 W. State St. The agreement would allow certain heavy commercial uses with site restrictions, a compromise after the City Council denied the family's outright rezone from residential to heavy commercial on July 14. Nearly 25 neighbors opposed that earlier request, as we reported Aug. 4, citing truck traffic near Trinnaman Lane.

Council member Emily Lockhart suggested the development agreement approach at the July 14 meeting to narrow permitted uses. "We are happy to come back to the table with an agreement," Debbie Walker told the Lehi Free Press on July 23. "No matter what happens, change is coming to Lehi. We can't stop it, it's happening."

Kairos condo plat

Kairos Land Development also appeared before the commission seeking approval of the Belmont Flex Suites Condo Plat, which would divide an existing building at 1552 N. Boston St. into 10 individually ownable commercial units.

The next regular Planning Commission meeting is Aug. 27.