When is the voice of the residents of Summit County going to be heard? Clearly we are saying, “enough already!”
The Dakota Pacific proposal has been an absolute disaster from the start. Their original proposal to build 1,100 residential units and 386,000 square feet of commercial space (1.75 million total square feet) received a negative recommendation from the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission. For reasons unknown to this day, the Summit County Council decided to consider the application anyway.
Once news leaked out regarding this mammoth development at Kimball Junction, the residents of Summit County demonstrated an unequaled level of opposition. Dakota Pacific’s behavior throughout the review process showed them to be bad actors, in my opinion, with no concern for county residents or for the Summit County review process. When it became obvious to Dakota Pacific the public outcry would most likely doom the project, they went to the state Legislature to craft Utah Senate Bill 84, which basically allowed Dakota Pacific to build their project without county approval.
The Summit County Council decided to sue Dakota Pacific and the state of Utah before they ever voted on the development. In March 2023, the county secured a court ruling that determined SB 84 was not applicable to the project and Dakota Pacific was bound to the original land use agreement, which is limited to a Tech Center.
One would think this gives the county considerable leverage to either reject Dakota Pacific’s proposal outright or to negotiate a significantly smaller project with more affordable housing that would have a minimal impact on traffic.
Surprisingly, this is not the case. The County Council continues to accommodate Dakota Pacific, giving them undue time and respect considering their demonstrated disdain for them and the county residents.
The public has been forced to witness the charade of Dakota Pacific being given hours and days of testimony, during which they have not deviated one iota from Plan C (727 residential units, 341,000 square feet of commercial space, 1.32 million total square feet) which was introduced over a year ago.
Thus far, there has been no opportunity for public comment and no forum for direct input from the public is currently scheduled.
So where should we go from here? It seems apparent the Summit County Council has given up on the Tech Center concept. The Tech Center was and is a brilliant idea and was intended to bring high paying tech jobs to the area where historically most of the available employment centered around the resorts and the hospitality industry.
The lack of tenants seems to be due to a nonexistent marketing campaign that in 16 years has only attracted one firm to the Tech Center: Skullcandy. This occurred while the tech sector exploded in Utah and the Silicon Slopes near Lehi grew exponentially, while the Park City Tech Center languished. Wikipedia currently lists 59 global, national and local corporations that have a presence near Lehi.
If in fact the County Council is abandoning the Tech Center’s original concept, they should rezone the entire area using an open process that would invite public comment. This would also provide time for UDOT to commit to a traffic mitigation project for Kimball Junction. This should occur before any variance is given to Dakota Pacific, whose past actions relegate them a questionable partner for any endeavor.
If they approve Dakota Pacific’s request for a variance, they will have to consider one for every other project application in the Snyderville Basin. The County Council must also remember that approving massive residential projects elsewhere in Summit County will impact Kimball Junction as long as it remains the most robust option for groceries, dining and retail.
There must be other opportunities for development at the Tech Center that would greatly benefit the county. There have been rumblings that University of Utah Health has outgrown their current Redstone facility. Perhaps they can be enticed to build a facility similar to their Sugar House location. If this can’t happen, there must be many opportunities for projects far superior to anything Dakota Pacific has proposed.
The opposition to Dakota Pacific has been evident and unwavering. If the County Council members are truly our representatives, they should do exactly that: represent! The residents of Summit County don’t trust Dakota Pacific and don’t want their project.
Vincent Novack
Snyderville Basin