Clinton housing project critics submit petitions calling for vote on 341-unit proposal

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Clinton residents petitioning to force a ballot question on a rezone decision allowing a 341-unit housing proposal to proceed have submitted the signatures they collected for review.
The residents worry too much development is occurring too quickly in the Davis County city.
The developer says the project is located in an ideal location and that the housing is needed.

CLINTON — The Clinton residents worried about overdevelopment in the city have mustered the required number of signatures on petitions to put a rezone decision that's the focus of their ire to voters as a ballot question.

But that's not the end of the effort, which underscores the growing pains communities across the Wasatch Front are feeling as the population grows, necessitating more housing. Now the petitions face review by the Davis County Clerk's Office to make sure the signatures are valid, from registered voters in the city. Presuming enough are valid and other requirements are met, whether to affirm or reverse the rezone decision behind the 341-unit housing development could go to voters.

Adam Larsen, one of the volunteers behind the Pause the Clinton Townhome Project, said most people signed the petitions when the petition circulators explained the issues at play. The petition gatherers collected 4,184 signatures, while 3,548 need to be valid for the challenge to continue.

"They weren't saying that they were anti-townhome," Larsen said. Rather, as he reads it, they were signing the petitions to get the issue on the ballot so the broader community can have a say as development accelerates in northwest Davis County, a fast-growing area.

The proposal at the center of the controversy calls for 266 townhomes and 75 single-family homes in an undeveloped expanse of western Clinton abutting West Point. Coming in the wake of approval of two other projects calling for 271 additional housing units in Clinton and additional housing plans next door in West Point, the petitioners worry it's too much too fast, which precipitated their effort.

At issue is the Aug. 27 zoning change approved in a 3-2 vote by the Clinton City Council allowing the 34.9-acre Trail Point project, an initiative of developer Mike Hatch, to proceed. If Larsen and the others have the signatures they need, a question would be put on the ballot next year asking voters whether the rezone decision should stand or be reversed.

Hatch has defended his plans, saying with future planned road development, the area is ideal for the sort of housing growth he envisions. Moreover, with Utah's population growing, more homes are needed.

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