By JON FISCHER
fish@du2.byu.edu
Provo... it keeps growing ... and growing ... and growing. For many city administrators, growth and its effects are some of the most important issues Provo is facing.
Richard Secrist, director of community development for Provo, said as Provo grows, the effects of growth will need to be dealt with.
'It's the impact from the growth that creates challenges -- the traffic impact, the air quality impact, the loss of open space,' Secrist said.
According to the 1998 Utah County Community Assessment, population projections made in 1992 were 'significantly underestimated.' Provo, like most Utah County cities, is facing greater-than-anticpated growth.
Secrist said, based on current growth rates, vacant land in Provo is estimated to be used up around 2015. But he said growth will continue as existing structures are redeveloped.
'There's always going to be some room, I don't think growth will stop simply because we are out of vacant land,' he said.
As growth in Provo continues, the issue of housing will become even more heated. Doug Carlson, executive director for the Provo Housing Authority, said there is always a waiting list for rental assistance.
'The number one issue, in my mind, is the availability of land for the development of affordable housing,' Carlson said. 'We can't make more land,' he said.
Myla Dutton, executive director of Community Action, said although wages have improved in the last decade, housing cost have doubled and tripled.
'There's only so much housing to go around,' she said.
Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings agrees something needs to be done to keep up with the growth.
'I think it's important that we deal prudently with issues dealing with growth,' Billings said.
Because Provo is home to many students, landlords are able to charge a higher rent. 'You buy a house anywhere in the city, you can probably rent it to as many students as you want to rent it to,' Billings said.
'We need to provide better housing, we need to provide more convenient housing, we need to provide housing that's closer to campus--and thereby reducing vehicle trips and traffic miles driven by students,' Billings said.
Billings said solutions are being planned to help make low-income housing more available to non-students.
'We are going to be proposing some fairly bold and significant things that if we can pull off, will change the way we house students in Provo from what we have in the past,' he said.
Billings said one of the ideas is to create a new housing corridor for students closer to BYU, drawing students out of the traditional neighborhood areas. When traditional neighborhood areas are less attractive to students, prices will settle down and first time home-buyers can move into those areas.
'I can see those kinds of things happen,' Billings said.
Secrist said another solution would be to develop smaller lots. 'I think we need to reduce the size of our building lots,' Secrist said.
In Tuesday night's meeting of the Provo Municipal Council, Secrist presented some proposed changes to the city's Land Development Code. The proposed adjustments were designed to improve quality of life of Provo residents despite the rapid growth.
The new code would require enhanced open space requirements, coordinated tree planting and lighting, better walkways, and smaller lot sizes.
The proposed changes in the code will be discussed in future meetings of the Provo Municipal Council.