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What’s new in Orem? Quite a bit to say the least.
As your new Mayor and City Council we have definitely hit the ground running. I ran on the promise that I would listen to you, the citizens, and would use my best judgement to lead Orem forward into the future. I’ve said many times that we are at a critical juncture. Making the right decisions now will directly effect the environment in which our future generations live.
My commitment to you is to put in place policies that guarantee the residents of Orem will always be heard and will have a strong voice in the future of their community. My over arching goal is to ensure that the people of Orem, the City Council, and Orem City Management are completely aligned in this vision of our future.
At the top of our new agenda, the most pressing issue facing us was the State Street Master Plan Moratorium. That was put in place last fall before we were even elected. That current Master Plan called for 9,400 apartments and 20,000 to 30,000 people living on State Street, in the coming years. With Orem already at 43% rentals and traffic increasing significantly many residents are very concerned about what Orem’s future might be.
On February 22nd, myself and our new City Council passed measures repealing the State Street Master Plan 5-0 with two City Counselors absent. We voted to change the zoning back to where it was prior to the State Street Master Plan. This significant change allows ONLY Service, Retail, and Office Commercial Projects on State Street. The 9,400 apartment units in the original plan were eliminated. At the same time, the beautification aspects of the prior plan were left in place. These business-friendly changes required a significant effort by the new City Council and City Management. We worked together in order to make them happen in the very short time frame we had to work with.
We are excited for the future and have big plans for State Street going forward. After it being talked about for years, we will put a new plan in place in to work with Orem businesses and investors to revive and upgrade State Street.
It’s only been seven weeks. We will continue to work towards making Orem the best place to live in the State!
I’ll see you next month.
– Mayor David Young
