Layton Downtown - Proposed Commuter Rail Station
The workshop proposed a new east/west road to connect the Fort Lane Shopping Center to Main Street and west to the proposed station and new growth areas. Trails along Kay’s Creek would provide additional means of pedestrian circulation through the study area, connecting to a future trail system across the city. These new circulation routes will open this area to greater development opportunities. Workshop participants stressed the need to develop design guidelines that would benefit and sustain historic downtown Layton and local residential neighborhoods, balance growth and preservation needs and develop distinct neighborhoods based on smart growth ideals.
The revitalization of historic downtown would include the development of a transit station to support preservation and growth plans. A station and surface parking would be sited along the rail line reserving the street edge for higher-density mixed-use development that would support employment and downtown living within walking distance of the station. Kay’s Creek would be developed as a pedestrian-friendly zone fronted by urban amenities such as nearby mixed-use buildings. The proposal also creates an arts and business district east of Main Street with connections to the transit station to the west and surface parking to the south. West of downtown there is great potential for residential development. Because people were concerned that new growth respectfully develop existing agricultural lands, higher-density housing is kept adjacent to the rail line. Three-to-four story apartments and higher density town homes located near the Kay’s Creek corridor would step down in scale to single family homes to the west, similar to the scale of existing local development. Neighborhood parks, play areas and landscaped sidewalks support the expressed need for walkable neighborhoods linked by green space.
In the Fort Lane area, development plans include the creation of a new retail center at the corner of Fort Lane and Gentile Streets. Plans include bringing buildings to the street, creating smaller scale parking areas and focusing the development onto an amenity, such as a manmade creek or water feature. A new street would provide access through the area and link the Layton City civic district and High School to the north to the a new highway off-ramp.
The Fort Lane Shopping Center could be a potential receiving zone for the transfer of development rights, a tool for the preservation of open space lands. This current low-density retail area would benefit from a greater density, allowed by purchasing the development rights from critical lands in other areas. Along the Great Salt Lake shoreline in Layton and other cities, a number of property owners have expressed interest in limiting future development on their land through the sale of development rights.
The proposed Layton commuter rail stop is located along the Union Pacific rail line near historic downtown Layton. The site is divided into three areas by the rail line that separates the residential and agricultural areas west of the rail line from the downtown area, and I-15, which separates downtown from the Fort Lane Shopping Center. All three areas have limited freeway access to and from I-15, and east/west circulation is confined to Gentile Street on the north. Kay’s Creek winds through all three areas running northeast to southwest.
