On Feb. 20 The Park Record posted an article by Toria Barnhart entitled, “Dakota Pacific will return with new options for Tech Center as it navigates county restrictions.” In the article Marc Stanworth, Dakota Pacific CEO, is quoted as saying the Summit County Council’s request is “simply infeasible.”
First of all, Mr. Stanworth, the council’s communication to you is not a “request.” The council told you and your colleagues they are unlikely to approve a development with over 500 units at a special meeting on Feb. 8. Additionally, the council wants half of those units to be dedicated to low income housing.
Mr. Stanworth is also quoted as saying, “We hope that citizens will do the necessary work to look past the rhetoric and mistruths circulating the community and properly consider all aspects of this critical project as we move toward a public hearing and a potential council vote.”
This is indicative of the absolute disdain for the community Dakota Pacific has manifested throughout the negotiations regarding this project. I’d like Mr. Stanworth to identify the “mistruths” he cites. It is evident Summit County residents overwhelmingly oppose this project and have since the original proposal was introduced based on facts and figures presented by Mr. Stanworth himself as the Dakota Pacific front man.
The presentation Dakota Pacific has been using lately claims the original Tech Center land use agreement entitles them to build 1.3 million square feet of office space with 4,500 parking stalls. They refer to this as Plan A or the “existing entitlement.” They have repeatedly stated the “existing entitlement” would create worse traffic than a mixed use development. Accordingly, it is audacious in the extreme that their first proposal exceeded the “existing entitlement” by 450,000 square feet (1.75 million square feet total) or 35%. This plan also called for 1,100 residential units.
Since November 2022, Dakota Pacific has been seeking council approval for Plan C. This plan still calls for 727 housing units and 341,000 square feet of commercial space (1.32 million total square feet). Despite the continuing local opposition and the concerns of the Summit County Council, Dakota Pacific has only scaled back by 30 some-odd units. They are pushing this project forward aggressively even though desperately needed traffic mitigation is not planned or promised.
Now they claim they cannot come close to the county’s demands due to having to guarantee an appropriate return to their investors. Why should Summit County residents have to accept a seriously flawed project in order for Dakota Pacific to make a profit?
You can play the victim, Mr. Stanworth, but your actions and those of your Dakota Pacific colleagues are responsible for the public’s perception and the skepticism of the County Council. Perhaps the situation would be different if you had engaged the public from the start and offered a project that actually benefited the residents of the Snyderville Basin. However, you didn’t, and can only blame yourself for your current predicament.
Vincent Novack
Snyderville Basin