Nibley council and residents finally come to agreement about road

By Denise Albiston

NIBLEY -- After many weeks of discussions between the City Council and residents living along 800 West, a decision was reached regarding improvements for the street Thursday night.

After the last council meeting, members decided to look into other possibilities for the proposed changes to 800 West that residents had opposed. The council had originally proposed taking an average of three feet from each property owner's right-of-way along the east side of 800 West, between 2600 South and 2500 South, enabling the city to place four center islands and a left-turn lane on the street. The residents suggested to the city that the needed land should come from the west side of the street reducing the amount of houses affect from seven to one.

"I think the compromise is equitable. I like the council having concerns about the islands. We're trying to widen the road and I'm not sure if putting islands in is the answer," said Ross Jacobson.

The newly approved design will take the needed property from the west side of the street, but will contain curb and gutter placed next to the sidewalks with 6-inch sleeves in the concrete for mail boxes on the east side, said Larry Anhder, city manager and recorder. However, the plan still maintains the four center islands and left-turn lanes. Residents were unsure of the proposed islands and left-turn lanes and worried if the lanes would promote more turning traffic.

"There is a school on that road, you should accommodate the traffic that's going to go to that school, the school will be there 50 years from now. I realize that people live on the corners, but promoting turning can't really be an issue," said Steve Farnes, chairman of Nibley's planning and zoning committee.

The turning traffic is going to be present in that area, the concern should be more about safety, said Mayor Lynn Welker. He added the turning lanes allow the turning traffic to move out of the way of the ongoing traffic, if there isn't a place for the turning traffic to go then the street will get backed up and that could be a hazard.

"You're going to have left turning regardless, it's an intersection. If you have the room to make a turn lane, it will make it easier," Farnes said.

In other business, the council held a joint meeting with the Planning and Zoning Committee to discuss the future of multiple family housing in Nibley. The council invited Cache County Planner Mark Teuscher to attend the meeting and assist members in making decisions regarding multiple family housing.

"The first thing you all need to decided is if you want to have multiple housing developments in Nibley," Teuscher said.

If we allowed the housing, the city would like to see the units maintain a certain look or feel to them, Anhder said. He added, for the city to consider allowing these units into the area they must comply with some regulations that require the owners to provide units that can maintain their viability for 20 or 30 years.

There has been little research done on this topic in Nibley and the council members may be unsure if multiple family housing is even something residents want or feel they need in their city, said Councilman James Waite.

"If you leave it up to the public, they're not going to want to pay for it. If we, as the elected officials see the need for this, then we need to do it. That may not make it popular but we need to anticipate the need for the future," said Councilwoman Debbie Lowry.

Teuscher said the city needs to recognize that Cache Valley is no longer a rural area, it is urban and will continue to grow each year by 2 percent. He said as the communities in this area grow, so will Nibley and the people moving into this area will eventually need to have their needs meet and that includes multiple family housing.

"We need to have multiple family housing, it's part of any community," said Councilman Jay Harrison.

The council also voted unanimously to sell the easement located in Shadow Brook Park near 2770 S. 800 West for $6,000 to Qwest. The area will be used to place self-contained telephone poles and lines used to expand services needed for the growing area, Anhder said.

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