Three weeks in, and the Trump/Musk presidency continues to surprise.
For a while, the big news was that Elon Musk and his band of pubescent hackers had taken control over the federal payments system. The formerly highly secure payments system is a mountain of our personal information. If you ever got a tax refund, the odds are pretty good that they have your banking information for direct deposit. Social Security recipients are required to use direct deposit, so Elon Musk appears to have access to my bank account in Kamas. So there’s that.
By the end of the week, the computer heist seemed quaint. There were tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, then there weren’t tariffs, or at least not yet. Stock markets plunged, then recovered and nobody has a clue where things stand or will be weeks from now. Except that if you are trying to build a house, the lumber price could be up 25%, or not, depending on the day of the week. Canada has refused the offer to become the 51st state.
The new imperial ambitions had been focused on Greenland, Canada,and the Panama Canal. Then in a surprise to everybody, he had a brain fart that the United States should “take over” ownership of Gaza and redevelop it into a lovely beach resort. The Saudis would pay for it and the United States would own it, and it would be wonderful.
Except for the small matter of 2 million people who live there and aren’t willing to be relocated, even though Trump assures them it will be lovely. Perhaps Greenland?
Neighboring countries have not expressed any willingness to take in 2 million destitute people. The Israelis are a little squeamish discussing forced relocation. The whole idea ignores the history of the area that has been in pretty much constant conflict over occupations and relocations since 1948. But Gaza does have miles of Mediterranean beachfront, and if you are a big time developer, the desires of the local population are just a speed bump in the way of progress.
Which brings us to Dakota-Pacific. Summit County spent five years renegotiating the development agreement to move from a failed tech office park concept to a largely residential project on the site. It took a ridiculously long time, and in hindsight a simple “no thanks” four years ago might have been better.
But we are where we are, and with the adoption of County Ordinance 987, the new residential plan is in effect.
Except it’s kind of not, because Dakota-Pacific has apparently declined to sign the agreement. Nobody knows why.
Speculation is that they are waiting to see what happens with the referendum to repeal Ordinance 987, but they could be back in the legislative sewer shopping for a better deal to be imposed from the state level. And then there is the proposal to incorporate their own town, Park City Tech, write their own zoning laws, and do whatever they want. In other words, it doesn’t feel like anything is settled after five years of effort.
The proposed referendum would repeal Ordinance 987. That doesn’t mean the land reverts to potgut habitat. It means that the current iteration of the (apparently unsigned) development agreement goes “poof” and the old tech park agreement comes back into effect.
That’s a bad approval — office space that nobody wants, to be staffed by people who can’t afford to live here and can find similar or better jobs in Draper/Lehi without the commute. So that won’t get built. But something will.
There is too much invested in that land to just shrug and walk away. It has no real conservation value and shouldn’t be bought by the county as open space. Every month it sits there as vacant land, the holding costs eat away at the net return. Amenities evaporate as the holding costs mount.
The proposed referendum isn’t a choice between the current housing proposal and open space. It’s a choice between the current proposal that is a product of a lot of careful negotiation, and whatever might be proposed — or imposed — next.
Dakota-Pacific would likely end up going to the Legislature, which is all in on “build, baby, build,” for a special deal.
The current proposal has phasing connected to the timing of improvements to the Kimball Junction interchange. Traffic will certainly get worse no matter what, and at this point, there isn’t a proposed “fix” at Kimball that will dramatically improve it. Phasing additional development with highway improvements should avoid 890 units of housing all dumping on to the existing failed roads at the same time. That’s worth something.
The bigger threat is the incorporation option. A newly incorporated Park City Tech municipality would supersede county zoning. Dakota-Pacific would appoint the bogus new city’s council and planning commission, write the new city’s zoning code, and firmly put the fox in charge of the henhouse. If that sounds stupid, corrupt and outrageous, it is, and you can thank our stupid, corrupt, and outrageous Legislature for that.
It’s hard to see how we will get a better deal than what has been worked out. I don’t like it. I’ve reached the point where no growth is good growth, but it’s where we are.
Unless there is some way to trade the Tech Park for Greenland.
Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986.