Sandy approves 86 townhomes on the Canyons site the district is leaving for Draper

The Sandy City Council on Oct. 20 approved three ordinances allowing 86 townhomes on the Canyons School District's Technical Education Center property, five weeks after the same council denied the proposal. 1

The site is at 825 E. 9085 South in Sandy; the city's agenda lists it at 7.2 acres, and Building Salt Lake reported 7.15 acres. 81

The general plan amendment, which changes the land use designation from Institutional to Medium Density Neighborhood, passed 6-1; the rezone from R-1-8 single-family residential to PUD(12) passed 5-2; and the development agreement passed 5-2. 1

The project is called Canyon Gate and is to be built by The Boyer Company. 2

The matter did not return to the agenda on the council's own motion. The Oct. 20 agenda carries both Canyon Gate items as a reconsideration requested by Council Members Brooke Christensen and Alison Stroud, who asked for a renewal of motion and reconsideration of the council's Sept. 15 action 8. On Sept. 15 the council had rejected the proposal in a 4-2 vote, the Draper Herald reported 2.

The revision is in the rental terms. Under the agreement the council rejected, rental limits applied only while The Boyer Company owned a unit and lapsed when the unit sold. 1 Sandy City Attorney Lynn Pace told the council the new agreement writes the same restrictions into the homeowners association's covenants, conditions and restrictions for five years after sale, capping rentals at 20 percent of units. 1 Boyer may hold as many as 17 units, about 20 percent of the total, which the company could sell or rent. 1

Tracy Cowdell, an attorney working with the city and the developer, told the council the revised deal was the developer's limit. "I confidently am telling you that I think they have gone as far as they are willing to go," Cowdell said, according to Building Salt Lake 1.

Council Member Kris Nicholl voted against all three ordinances. Building Salt Lake reported that Nicholl objected that reviving an ordinance the council had already voted on did not adequately notify residents; Council Member Cyndi Sharkey voted against the rezone and the development agreement and for the general plan amendment. 1

The campus at issue is the district's current career-training site, and the district is leaving it. Building Salt Lake reported the 7.15-acre parcel is still owned by Canyons and in use as an education center. 1 The district's destination is Draper: on Aug. 20, 2024, the Canyons Board of Education approved a contract to buy the 36-acre former eBay campus at 583 W. eBay Way for $50 million. 4 The board's minutes record the motion by Andrew Edtl, seconded by Nancy Tingey, carried on a 5-1 vote with Holly Neibaur opposed. 7

The district compared the two routes in that same meeting: a new building was estimated at $108 million at about $500 per square foot, against $50 million for the eBay property at about $230 per square foot. 7 The district said it would pay by liquidating property it already owns, using existing capital fund revenue and issuing short-term lease-revenue bonds. 4

Retrofitting is separately funded. Canyons announced on Feb. 6, 2026, that it had won a $17.2 million Catalyst Center Implementation Grant from the Utah State Board of Education, awarded against 35 applications seeking more than $200 million, with 13 education agencies receiving implementation grants. 5 In a March 31 board summary, Business Administrator Leon Wilcox said more than $30 million of the renovation budget would come from the sale of surplus district property and $17.2 million from the grant, and that funding had been approved for architectural design, the start of work on a trades building and interior renovations scheduled to begin in April. 3

The district's opening date has moved. Its August 2024 announcement targeted fall 2026; the district now says the campus is on track for fall 2027, and its December 2025 profile of the project gives August 2027. 46

The district describes the Canyons Innovation Center as a profession-based campus where high school students earn industry certifications and college credit, with teachers drawn from industry and projects supplied by employers. 56 The eBay purchase included a 240,000-square-foot building and 16 acres of developable land, which the district said could accommodate a future west Draper elementary school. 4 Reid Newey is the center's director. 6

What the record does not say is how the Sandy sale is priced or that its proceeds are earmarked for the Draper retrofit. The city's October agenda sets out land-use instruments and no sale terms, and the district's announcements describe surplus property sales generally rather than naming this parcel. 84 The Draper Herald reported that the sale of the Sandy property feeds directly into the Draper work. 2

The two projects are now sequenced against the same date. The Draper campus opening determines when the Sandy site is vacated and construction on Canyon Gate can begin, the Draper Herald reported. 2 Building Salt Lake reported the townhomes as a mix of two- and three-story units, with the taller homes along the south side of 9000 South, access from Scirlein Drive and 9085 South, and no egress point from 9000 South. 1 The plans did not specify how many bedrooms each unit would hold. 1