Uniformed deputies were present this week as those upset by a proposal to build a 250-unit subdivision near Old Ranch Road spoke to the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission for about two hours.
People lined up in the crowded auditorium at the Sheldon Richins Building Tuesday to sound off about the plan.
“If it’s a controversial issue we show up simply to keep the peace,” said Detective Ron Bridge, a spokesman for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
The board was discussing the 300-acre Stone Ridge subdivision, which would be sandwiched between Silver Summit and Old Ranch Road on land used by hikers and bikers in the Snyderville Basin. The development application is one of the first being processed under a set of planning guidelines meant to encourage affordable housing by allowing higher densities for builders who agree to lace their projects with work force units.
Only buyers earning up to 80 percent of the annual area median income, which is roughly $93,000, may qualify to purchase about 65 Stone Ridge homes.
Opponents criticize Basin planning commissioners, claiming they are ignoring zoning rules and the desires of neighbors by shoehorning a dense work force housing project into a rural community where it doesn’t belong.
The public has been left out of the discussions, Basin resident Greg Lawson said at the meeting Jan 12.
“It’s important that we can feel confident that your minds are really still open,” Lawson told Basin planning commissioners. “I hope you’ll take us seriously.”
Snyderville Basin Planning Commission Chairman Jeff Smith insists his group is “months” from voting on the Stone Ridge proposal.
“I could not predict how this group would vote right now on this subject,” Smith said. “We lean with the neighbors more than we lean with the developers.”
Neighbors against the plan are concerned about density, traffic impacts and whether Stone Ridge is compatible with nearby neighborhoods.
“It looks to me like you’re using work force housing as an excuse for a significant development,” Snyderville Basin resident Jean Tabin said. “I’m completely shocked. Work force housing should be put in much better areas.”
Approving Stone Ridge could lead to larger subdivisions in the neighborhood, said Basin resident Kevin Strait.
“Once you open Pandora’s box, the genie is going to come out,” Strait said. “It appears like we’re going to build Jeremy Ranch on Old Ranch Road.”
Summit County officials have stressed the importance of building work force housing in the Snyderville Basin.
But 65 affordable units may not be worth the impact of 250 new homes, Basin resident Michael Costello said.
“We really have to look at what we are willing to give up and what we are getting,” Costello said. “This is probably the largest development that has been proposed within that area.”
Another neighbor called the Stone Ridge project “atrocious.”
“We are all very concerned about this project,” Christian Hague said. “It is a really terrible project from its conception The Planning Commission should send it back to where it belongs and that is the trash heap.”
One speaker criticized the Planning Commission for not responding to the public feedback Tuesday evening.
“We object to the format that says you don’t have to talk to us, you just have to let us vent,” Basin resident Gary Nielsen said. “We want answers and we’re not getting them.”
Though, not everyone is against the plan.
“I think this is a really suitable option,” said Pam Foote, who has lived on Old Ranch Road since 1993.