A narrow 3-2 majority of Bluffdale's City Council said last month that their semi-rural area is no place for a Provo-to-Salt Lake City commuter-rail stop. They refused to change a land-use ordinance to allow public uses greater than two acres in size - UTA needs 12 acres for the station.
The measure momentarily blocked the Utah Transit Authority from building a FrontRunner platform in the city of 7,000 along 14600 South.
But state lawmakers stepped in during the final days of the legislative session. Now - pending a signature from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. - UTA can do what it wants, regardless of a restrictive city ordinance.
SB286, sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, exempts UTA from complying with city ordinances - as long as that city lies in a first-class county and the rail spans at least two counties.
The bill allows only the physical rail stop, including station platforms, park-and-ride lots and supporting infrastructure. It does not pertain to transit-oriented retail/housing development.
Killpack acknowledged his bill targeted Bluffdale, adding that most cities have cooperated with UTA. He said moving the planned FrontRunner station even a few hundred yards would cost an already tight-budgeted transportation wing an additional $40 million to $60 million.
UTA spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware would not speculate where the transit authority would put its station following the City Council's February decision, but on Thursday she confirmed that UTA "will go ahead in [its] pursuit of the Bluffdale commuter-rail station."
Ware said UTA is pleased with the state's bill, but she added that the transit authority would not change its policy on working with cities and counties.
The three Bluffdale council members who rejected the FrontRunner stop - Bill Maxwell, Nancy Lord and Troy Chisholm - are upset with the state's override. They signed a letter opposing the bill.
"The Legislature's primary goal, in this instance, appears to conflict with a majority of the Bluffdale City Council's goal to strive to keep Bluffdale as rural as possible - to avoid becoming 'Herriman East,' or 'Draper West,'" the letter states, adding that Bluffdale's ability to self-govern is being stripped.
Said Maxwell: "We ought to not have the state stepping on the local authority every time they don't like what we've done. It's interesting that the Legislature would spot-zone and legislate for our specific situation."
Maxwell stressed his support for the rail system as a whole - just not in the planned location.
"But we'll live with it," he added. "We have to."
Meanwhile, Mayor Claudia Anderson, who has had a tumultuous history with the council since taking office two years ago, criticized its rail opposers and praised state lawmakers for seeing the three members' "lack of wisdom."
Anderson - she attended numerous meetings to get UTA and the Utah Department of Transportation to consider Bluffdale for the transit stop - said the council had been warned that rejecting the stop would hurt the city financially - and that the Legislature would act.
