New SCAMP proposed

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    By Stacey Reed

    Running out of milk right before closing hours on Saturday night may not be such a problem in the future.

    A community development plan called S.C.A.M.P would practically bring the grocery store to students” doorsteps.

    The South Campus Area Master Plan was devised as a walkable community — having retail on the ground level and residents on remaining floors.

    Its purpose would be to bring students closer to campus, to preserve family living conditions, to foster a friendly-living environment, to alleviate traffic and to provide student-convenient services.

    However, the plan”s approval was put on hold last year when Provo City made some administrative and executive changes.

    “You still hear people talking about it a lot, as if it”s a real thing,” said Jan Yeckes, assistant director of the community development department of Provo City. “But it hasn”t been officially approved yet.”

    In the meantime, a group of BYU students, part of a club called Students for the New Urbanism, created an alternative development plan.

    SNU will present its plan and findings to city leaders and interested citizens on June 3, 2003.

    Because the SCAMP idea was perceived as a positive and a negative addition to the community, SNU tried to better meet the needs of the students.

    One of the students” major concerns was having to give up their cars due to the sidewalk community.

    Although it is comparable in idea, the Joaquin Neighborhood Redevelopment Project by SNU is smaller in scope and provides more parking spaces for students.

    The designated area for SCAMP ranges from 500 North to 800 North and 500 East to 900 East. But SNU”s development only includes the blocks of 800 North and 500 East.

    Adam Lenhard, vice president of SNU, and a senior majoring in planning, said the entire main block would have underground parking.

    Overall, Lenhard said this plan would better centralize where the students live.

    “This is something we should”ve had a long time ago,” Lenhard said. “A lot of other universities across the nation have a visual focal point for student life. All we have is the Cougareat.”

    The community would include bookstores, caf?s, a sports center, grocery stores, a plaza, courtyards and many other businesses.

    SCAMP is very similar to the new urbanism layout, which will benefit Provo families and permanent residents as well as students.

    “The biggest concern has really been the residents of the neighborhoods,” Yeckes said. “The people who own their own homes feel like they”re losing their neighborhoods and are fleeing Provo.”

    But she made it clear that in no way does that mean people want the students gone.

    “Certainly, no one wants the students to leave,” she said. “Everyone is very happy for the energy they bring to the community.”

    But there are still many details that need to be worked out before SCAMP or any other recommendations are approved.

    “The developers feel like they really can”t achieve the density that”s recommended by the plan with today”s parking standard,” Yeckes said. “We also have to be able to afford the architectural design, pedestrian plazas and landscaping.”

    Julie Franklin, director of Resident Life at BYU, said they don”t know if housing will be BYU approved yet.

    “It”s possible we would approve it under the provisions of the design, but it doesn”t guarantee that we would,” she said.

    While Franklin and Yeckes both said BYU is working closely together with Provo City, Franklin said the university hasn”t gone out of its way to get SCAMP passed.

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