Snyderville Basin residents delivered their last words regarding the Dakota Pacific Real Estate project in Kimball Junction before officials approved the development for a second time in seven months.
On Monday, Summit County Manager Shayne Scott approved an administrative development agreement for the mixed-use project at the Park City Tech Center. The decision came after the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission earlier this month forwarded a positive recommendation for the development, which includes 885 residential units, including 160 units of county-owned affordable housing, as well as a new transit center, civic buildings and commercial spaces.
Scott and the Planning Commission were bound by the parameters of a new state law created by Senate Bill 26, essentially shifting the process from a legislative one to administrative, mandating the approval of the “state-imposed entitlement” and prohibiting the county from creating any impediments to the development.
Still, four community members used the opportunity at the required public hearing to voice their opposition to the development.
Park City-area resident Kathy Mears said she’s been following the Dakota Pacific development since it was first proposed five years ago and assisted with signature-gathering efforts after a group of residents launched a referendum petition to overturn the Summit County Council’s 4 to 1 vote approving the project in December. She was also critical of the development firm’s efforts to “change” laws in Summit County by turning to the Utah Legislature to override local land use authority.
“Nobody here really wanted Dakota Pacific’s development, and they still don’t,” Mears said.
Robert Phillips similarly questioned why Summit County officials would want to partner with Dakota Pacific, and he said he didn’t want his tax dollars to be used to help pay for the project. Phillips referenced Elliot Richardson, who resigned as Attorney General during the Watergate scandal rather than carry out orders he disagreed with. He asked Scott to consider doing the same.
Colleen Connelly, who lives right off S.R. 224, added that even though there were only a few people to speak during the public hearing, the community has raised its voice against the development many times before, including through the referendum effort.
Pinebrook resident Ed Rutan said he, his wife and most of the community have spoken against the project at numerous meetings. He expressed frustration that neither county officials nor Dakota Pacific has acknowledged the opposition to the project and asked for a reasoned explanation for the decision.
“My wife Lynne and I were two of the thousands of Summit County residents who signed the referendum petition that circulated,” Rutan said. “Personally, I hope that it is on the ballot in November. I suspect that if it is on the ballot once again, the public will express its opposition in a very resounding way that makes it all the more important.”
A court hearing that may determine whether the ordinance approving the development appears on the ballot is set for Aug. 19. Dakota Pacific CEO Marc Stanworth previously said the development firm decided to pursue the administrative development agreement to avoid the uncertainty of the referendum effort and move forward with the agreement that the County Council approved.
Scott explained his approval was based not only on S.B. 26 but also because of the months and years county officials have spent negotiating with Dakota Pacific on the Tech Center project. He recognized many residents might not feel heard, but Scott said their comments have been integrated into the project each time the density was reduced, a traffic solution was included and a community amenity was added.
Overall, Scott said the project lives up to the Kimball Junction Neighborhood Plan, which emphasizes community connection, unanimously adopted by the County Council before the Dakota Pacific project was submitted.
“I am hopeful. I hope that there’s a moment sometime in my life where I come with my loved ones, and I stand in this area and I see some activity that worked,” Scott said. “I hope that there are folks who get up there and get on transit, and maybe they work for the county. Maybe they go to the library and they live (around) there, and we don’t import them from the Salt Lake Valley. They don’t come up Parleys Canyon. They don’t get off at Kimball Junction. They don’t get on 224. They walk to work. That would be a really exciting thing for me to be able to see.”
Dakota Pacific plans to build 385 market-rate units and 275 affordable housing units on the back half of the property. A proposed public-private partnership would also create 225 workforce housing units and a senior living facility near a public plaza surrounded by mixed uses. Dakota Pacific representatives reaffirmed their commitment to building options for local seniors.
There would also be a new transit center, structured parking and a pedestrian bridge connection to the east side of S.R. 224. The existing Kimball Junction Transit Center and the Richins Building would be demolished, too.
The project approved this week also includes five fewer units than approved in December. It also had a tweaked phasing plan that was designed to align more closely with the Utah Department of Transportation’s S.R. 224 improvement project. Scott inserted language to extend phase six of the project from five months to nine months.
