by Julynn Tanaka

GUEST COLUMNIST

This summer, I will have lived in Grantsville 30 years. Because one of the things I most love about Grantsville is the country atmosphere, I have chosen to live on Deseret Circle, a quiet street both close to the city center and a little isolated. We were the first house on the block, watching as each new house was built and we met our new neighbors. My six children and the children of many of my neighbors grew up here, enjoying not only the safety of our small town but the close proximity of schools and downtown Grantsville.

I believe if you have something great, you do not have to change it -- at least until you have done some research and are certain what you are changing to will be better than what you have.

The residents of Deseret Circle were recently given letters from Gordie Fields, a developer, describing plans for property adjoining the backyards of many homes on our street [see "Neighbors fighting proposed Grantsville strip mall," April 17]. These plans include a day care center, a vet clinic and a strip mall opening onto Main Street. After Fields purchased the property, we heard that his plan was to build houses. Evidently, when Fields took this proposition to the city, they turned him down. At the time, the land was zoned as residential. The problem was that 150 feet of the front of the property -- which included a residential home for over 100 years -- was rezoned as commercial in the "city plan." Apparently, once turned down, Fields had to come up with something else to do with the property.

The majority of the property owners in the area of the planned construction were surprised to hear about his plans. We attended a hearing held at City Hall on April 8, where we were able to voice our objections. At the meeting, after hearing from many of the worried residents concerning the new plan, the planning commission passed a motion that the land in question be zoned commercial. Many residents who attended felt the commission had made up its minds before the meeting even began.

One of our concerns about the businesses being in our backyards is that they will not only connect to us, but will also be next to the high school's property. A trail running from Main Street to the high school, next to Fields property, is now continually littered with all kinds of debris, including cigarette packages and bottles of all types. Building a strip mall there may only exacerbate the problem of students who are not in school when they should be.

If this project is approved, not only would traffic increase in the area, but noise would also -- including the noise of early morning drop-offs at the day care facility and traffic in and out of businesses. Some residents have built expensive fences next to Mr. Fields' property. What would happen to those fences? How much would the traffic onto Main Street increase with the new businesses?

Have these issues and others I have not raised been thoroughly looked into, or has the "city plan" taken precedence over those who will have to live with the consequences of the businesses in their back yards? Two new strip malls have recently been built in Grantsville and many office spaces stand empty today. Wouldn't it make more sense to see if the current empty spaces will be filled before new ones are built? How many houses built on spec are vacant in our city? How many people have lost serious money on these ventures? I would suggest that those involved take some time and answer these questions before they start developing more buildings that may just stand vacant and become a nuisance to our city.

Julynn Tanaka is a longtime Grantsville resident living on Deseret Circle.