Skye Area Plan (amending Micron Area Plan)

The proposed Skye Area Plan amends the existing Micron Area Plan. The proposed area encompasses approximately 844 acres surrounding the existing Texas Instruments Building. The majority of the Area Plan encompasses the area to the west of the Texas Instruments; however, it also includes land on the northeast side of Texas Instruments.

The Micron Area Plan was approved in 2012 and only the two schools were built under this plan. DR Horton purchased the land from Micron in 2021.The City Council then approved a concept plan starting this amendment on June 29, 2021.

The proposed Area Plan includes six sections: Introduction, Land Use, Utilities, Traffic, Geotechnical, and Fiscals. The sections are described below. The whole proposed Area Plan is available under Documents.

Introduction

The introduction outlines the history of this site and the area plan.

Land Use

The land use section contains a lot of information requiring the most review by the Planning Commission. It includes the overall land use plan, the table of uses, the table of bulk and intensity, design standards, buffers and open space, and deviations from the approval process. Each of these will be discussed separately as well.

Land Use Plan

The land use plan shows areas designated as mixed-use, school, civic, technical manufacturing buffer, open space, and various densities of residential.

The residential ranges from very low density with a maximum of two units per acre to high density with up to twelve units per acre. Mixed-Use also includes residential with up to 30 units per acre.

The Land Use plan also outlines the number of allowed Equivalent Residential Units (ERUs) with an overall cap at 2,436. However, this plan only shows 1,751 with the intent to include the rest if the Draper Municipal Boundary Adjustment is approved.

Table of Uses

The applicant provided two table of uses, one that covers the commercial zones and the other the residential. This outlines what uses are allowed and where.

Table of Bulk and Intensity

The applicant also provided a bulk and intensity table for both the commercial and residential zones. The bulk and intensity table includes setback, building height, landscaping and other similar requirements.

They included a ten percent landscape requirement for the mixed-use zone and an 80 percent open space/ native area requirement for the Technical Manufacturing Buffer. Staff recommended this percentage to ensure that the TMB remains a buffer space while still allowing Texas Instruments to utilize the land they own.

Design Standards

DR Horton proposes several deviations from the design standards.

First, they propose that only 20 percent of the townhomes be rear load instead of the 50 percent required by the City’s Development Code. They cite topography as the reason for this deviation.

They also propose new design standards for single family homes and townhomes. And they propose an Architectural Review Committee composed of three DR Horton employees to review and approve elevations. They propose five architectural design categories with requirements for the different categories. They also allow pods of the same style of homes to create cohesive neighborhoods but also require diversity of style next to each other not allowing the same floor plan or color scheme adjacent or across the street. The five design styles include: Farmhouse, Craftsman, Prairie, Transitional and Modern. Again, each of these have a description of what types of materials, windows, features, and colors they should have. However, it also allows a great amount of flexibility in interpretation and enforcement of the requirements.

The applicant also includes parking requirements that mostly mirror the existing Code requirements. However, Staff recently recommended changes to not count tandem parking towards the required number of stalls and to include a proximity requirement. The applicant’s proposal does not reflect these changes. The applicant also includes a statement that street parking can count towards the guest stalls.

Buffers and Open Space

The applicant includes a map that shows the location of open space including natural trail corridors. This section also includes information about the total 92 acres of open space that will be provided and also tabulations about the amount of private and public open space in each pod.

Approval Process Deviations

The applicant proposes deviations from the normal approval process. They propose removing some of the application requirements and allowing final plat approval process by the reviewing departments not City Council. These proposals match the requirements of both the Holbrook and Cold Spring Ranch Area Plans.

The applicant also proposes approval by the reviewing departments for site plans unless they are for a conditional use or request an exception from either the Skye Area Plan or Lehi City Development Code.

Utilities

The utilities section reviews the requirements for power, water and sewer. The applicant worked with the power department and public works to make sure utilities will work throughout the site.

The applicant will have to provide new sources and storage facilities for both culinary and pressurized irrigation water to serve this area plan. Some existing capacity exists allowing them to complete a limited number of buildings before the required infrastructure is in place.

Traffic

The traffic section includes a traffic study indicting the anticipated traffic volumes and recommended road cross sections. It also includes the applicant’s proposed road network and street cross sections.

The applicant worked with Staff to reduce the width of the cross sections in an effort to decrease speeding problems by design. Many of the cross sections also include trails and shoulders for parking. They also include planter strips usually seven feet in width with a five-foot planter that already exist based on the old Area Plan and City requirements.

Geotechnical

The geotechnical report reviews the soils throughout the site and recommendations for drainage and other building requirements based on the soil type and water levels. This information will guide requirements for future subdivision and building plan applications.

Fiscals

The fiscal section outlines the reimbursable public improvements that the developer will build and dedicate to the City. The impact fees generated by this project will cover these public improvements. This section outlines the cost for power, sewer, storm water, culinary, pressurized irrigation, and parks.

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