Herriman City Planning Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend the city council approve an amendment to the Crescent commercial master development agreement (MDA) after staff described development and soil‑cleanup controls; residents testified about long-standing contamination concerns and asked the commission to require explicit cleanup conditions in the MDA.

Julie Smith, representing the applicant, said the amendment would allow a locally owned retail business to relocate to the 15½‑acre site by adding warehouse, wholesale, light‑manufacturing and shipping uses to the MDA; the applicant also asked the commission to permit an alternative landscape buffer (a berm and planting) in place of the code’s typical masonry wall between commercial and adjacent preexisting residential lots.

Multiple residents spoke during public comment. Sonny Mortensen and Andrew Lawrence said the property contains imported soils with elevated lead and arsenic and that residents worry about dust control and soil handling during earthwork. They asked the city to require removal of contaminated soils rather than relying on capping, and to include specific, enforceable cleanup steps in the MDA. Brenda Mortensen said past utility work at the site produced dust problems and asked for stronger, spelled‑out protections because residents fear health liability if controls fail. Residents requested public access to monitoring results and a city or consultant hotline for reporting issues during work.

Staff response: Blake Thomas, Community Development Director, explained the site’s history: the city and prior developers used the parcel as a soil repository for Butterfield Creek/Operable Unit 3, and portions of that operable unit remain under Herriman jurisdiction. Thomas described the environmental-control process required for development in the repository: developers must complete a soil assessment plan before earthmoving (including XRF screening and subsurface samples as needed), remove any material with contaminant concentrations at or above the ordinance thresholds (the staff example cited 4,000 parts per million as a threshold for removal), and maintain consultant oversight and air‑monitoring during excavation. Thomas said only two permitted disposal facilities are currently known to accept the most contaminated materials and that the city will have environmental‑consultant oversight during remediation. He also said the city files periodic reports to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the jurisdictional authority for the operable unit.

Commission action and conditions: Following the public hearing, the commission moved to recommend approval of the MDA amendment to the city council. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioners stressed the need to ensure the MDA references current city codes and engineering standards for soil assessment, requires consultant oversight and air monitoring during excavation, and provides public access to monitoring documents; staff said those requirements exist in city ordinance and engineering standards and that the city’s environmental consultant (EarthTouch Engineering) is typically retained to provide oversight. Commissioners also discussed whether the council’s review of illustrative design exhibits (required by staff condition) would provide sufficient assurance for residents.

Next steps: The planning commission’s unanimous recommendation advances the MDA amendment to the Herriman City Council; staff said the developer will conduct required soil assessment, submit a cleanup plan if needed, and perform remediation with city oversight before or as a condition of construction permits. Residents requested a hotline and clearer public reporting; staff agreed to work on public outreach and to make monitoring records available.