During the Wednesday March 20th Envision Heber 2050 workshop citizens were encouraged to map out their ideals for growth in the valley. Each table was asked to provide placement for a potential of 12,900 homes and provide direction for 12,900 jobs. Groups had the chance to outline trails, open space, density for residential and commercial development. The exercise allowed citizens to share ideas and understand the complexity that comes with growth. Consultant Christie Oostema introduced the vision meeting and outlined the rules of the exercise.
“The purpose of this meeting is just to get the public out and have a good conversation about what we want to be in coming decades, and we think it’s worthy of having a conversation where everyone can come to the table and have a chance to be heard and also to hear.” Willie Ford, a new resident of Heber felt the meeting was a great opportunity to learn and share ideas. “We had a really good group that was open and compromised on a lot of things. I would say the biggest challenge we had was how do we keep Heber feeling the same way it is today, and in the past, but be prepared for a lot of growth, and a lot of the things our group cared about was the views and the beauty of Heber.”
Groups presented their maps and respectfully discussed ideas for growth. This was just the first meeting in a series of workshops and town hall meetings Heber City is planning this year as they worked to put together a master plan.
Oostema felt the night was a great start to the process, and say some themes in the group presentations including a desire to preserve open space and provide clean air. “I’m sure we will have a chance to see other themes too. But we really want the opportunity for our steering committee to take a look at what’s on the maps and see what they see and we want to have time to really study the all of maps carefully as well. We don’t want to preclude anyone or draw any conclusions yet. For sure open space was on about every map.” For more information about Heber City’s master plan go to EnvisionHeber.com.
