The Wasatch Front Regional Council’s Regional Growth Committee on Jan. 16 recommended that the Council certify four station‑area plans for South Jordan, including planning for a new FrontRunner stop adjacent to the Larry H. Miller ballpark and the Daybreak urban center.

Megan (WFRC staff) reviewed the statutory requirements for station‑area plans and told the committee that state law requires plans for cities with a transit station or within a half‑mile of a track station. “The goals … are to increase the availability and affordability of housing, to promote sustainable environmental conditions, to enhance access to opportunities, and to increase transportation choices and connections,” she said.

South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey said the station‑area plans are not theoretical in her city: “This is something that’s literally already coming up out of the ground,” Ramsey said, noting Daybreak’s master development agreement and that the city expects substantial housing and employment growth in the station area. Steven Schafermeyer, South Jordan’s director of planning, told the committee the application synthesizes many existing plans and agreements for roughly 1,000 acres in the Daybreak area and surrounding parcels.

Key details recorded during the presentation and Q&A:
- Scope: the submission covers roughly 1,000 acres in and around Daybreak and several stations; staff said the area is already in build‑out phases and includes master development agreements. (Steven Schafermeyer)
- Planned growth: staff described roughly 11,000 housing units and about 27,000 residents intended in the larger area covered by the station planning effort; those figures were presented as plan‑level totals during the discussion. (Megan, South Jordan presenters)
- Affordable housing commitment: South Jordan presenters said the station‑area plan and associated Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone (HTRZ) include a commitment of at least 500 affordable units in the core area; the city indicated those units would be deed‑restricted and cited examples at about 60% of area median income for some units. (Steven Schafermeyer; Mayor Dawn Ramsey)

WFRC staff confirmed the City had met the statutory elements for certification — vision, buffer mapping, implementation steps, statements on the station‑plan goals and public/stakeholder engagement — and made a positive recommendation to forward certification to the Wasatch Front Regional Council. A committee member moved to forward the recommendation; another seconded, the committee called for the question and the motion passed with no recorded opposition.

Why it matters: station‑area certification is the state‑law step that recognizes locally adopted plans intended to coordinate housing, land use and transit near stations. South Jordan’s plan was presented as an example of an area with long‑standing entitlements and active private development underway, which local officials said makes rapid implementation more likely.

Ending: Committee members praised the partnership among the city, UTA, WFRC and private development partners and asked staff to continue coordination as the station area moves from plan certification to implementation.