5 Things We Learned About the Vesper Approval Process

Hey Provo! 👋We got some answers this week about why the Vesper Amphitheater proposal is playing out like this - and what comes next.

First, a quick overview of the proposal:

And here are five things we learned this week from two public meetings about the process and status of the Vesper Amphitheater:

1️⃣ The City Council will NOT vote on the Vesper Amphitheater proposal on Aug. 11, after all.

Instead, they’ll speak with the developers during the Council’s daytime Work Meeting on August 11. Work Meetings are broadcast live and archived on the City’s website, but there’s no opportunity for public comment. Why the delay? Bill Peperone (Director of Development Services for Provo) says the City Council has a lot of questions and the Vesper team requested more time to provide those answers. For example, Peperone says normally a full analysis of how a development will affect traffic isn’t done at this stage, but the City Council has asked for some of those details before they make a decision.

2️⃣The Vesper project felt like a sneaky surprise to the North District Neighborhood, but that was mainly just unfortunate timing.

Typically, large development proposals like Vesper are presented at a Neighborhood District Meeting long before they end up on the Planning Commission’s agenda. In this case, the Vesper Developers held a big press conference and the amphitheater landed on the Planning Commission’s agenda scheduled for just a few weeks later. And then the City scheduled a Timpview Neighborhood Meeting at the last minute (on June 1) as kind of an afterthought (or so it seemed to some residents).

But City Council Community Relations Analyst Rachel Breen (who coordinates communication with the Neighborhood District Boards) says it was a matter of timing: Neighborhood meetings are scheduled a year in advance and held quarterly. In this case, the North District had just had their quarterly neighborhood meeting when they were notified of the Vesper project. The next scheduled meeting for the North District Neighborhood was still 3 months away (end of July) and would be long after the Planning Commission had made its decision. So Breen says she worked with the Neighborhood District to quickly schedule the special public meeting on June 1.

Watch the June 1st Special North Timpview Neighborhood Meeting to discuss the proposed Vesper Amphitheater. Minutes, Slides, Feedback Synopsis, Video:

3️⃣ Email is the best way for the public to weigh in.

To be clear, both emails and in-person comment during a public hearing will be considered by the Planning Commission and the City Council. But City Planner Bill Peperone said during the Conserve Utah Valley town hall meeting that sending your comments/concerns by email in advance gives the commissioners and councilors more time to digest your feedback and be sure to address it with developers during the public meeting.

You can email your comments about the Vesper Amphitheater to council@provo.gov and dspublichearings@provo.gov.

4️⃣ The City Council’s primary power over Vesper is the zoning decision, which happens next.

Lots of us have wondered “Who has the ultimate power to approve or prevent Vesper from moving forward?

It’s confusing because, as Peperone explained in a Conserve Utah Valley virtual town hall, control over how major developments like Vesper play out is split between the Provo City Planning Department (under the Mayor’s direction), the Planning Commission and the City Council.

Let’s take it step by step:

The Planning Commission did the first of its two main jobs in the Vesper process when it REJECTED the basic idea (aka “Concept Plan”) and recommended the City Council DENY the request to rezone the land. See my recap of that meeting here:

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The Mayor, City Attorney and Planning Department are now working with the Vesper team to refine a legal document (aka Development Agreement) that will hold the project to a strict set of requirements if the City Council approves the rezone. ⤵️

The City Council will decide whether to rezone the land, authorize the Mayor to approve the Development Agreement and sell 66 acres of City land for Vesper. ⤵️

If the Council votes YES then….

The Planning Department will work with Vesper team to make sure they do all the required studies (traffic, environmental, geotechnical) and get all the approvals they need from UDOT, Provo Public Works, etc. to come up with a detailed “Project Plan.” Peperone says this process usually takes at least 6 months. ⤵️

The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Project Plan and approve or deny it. ⤵️

If the Planning Commission votes YES then….

The Planning Department will work with the Vesper team to get all the right permits for construction. A member of the Planning Department staff is assigned to monitor the project closely and Peperone says that planner “goes out and does periodic inspections throughout construction” to make sure the developers are sticking to the Project Plan and the Development Agreement. ⤵️

If the Developer ….

….wants to make a significant change to the Development Agreement, they have to come back to the City Council for a public hearing and a vote.

….violates the Development Agreement, the City can pursue legal action to get a remedy.

….wants any tax incentives from Provo, they have to come back to the City Council for a public hearing and a vote.

5️⃣There’s a new draft of the Development Agreement that will be released publicly before August 11.

Peperone says public concerns and questions from the City Council and Mayor have led more restrictions to added to the Development Agreement that the Vesper project would be required to follow if the City Council approves the rezone.

We should see the latest version when the City Council’s August 11 Work Session Agenda Packet is released publicly next week.

Read the original Development Agreement here.

Watch the July 26th Conserve Utah Valley virtual town hall here.

Watch the July 29th North District Neighborhood Meeting here.