The Summit County Council approved a proposal to build a mixed-use neighborhood with 90 residential units in Silver Creek on Wednesday, but only after a lengthy debate between councilors about the percentage of affordable housing that qualifies as a community benefit.
Columbus Pacific Development purchased the land on Silver Creek Road in 2021 and submitted plans for a development, dubbed Crossroads at Silver Creek, two years later. But planning commissioners expressed concerns about the project’s scope, which included 146 residential units and almost 300,000 square feet of commercial space.
The company revised the project and presented an updated site plan to the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission earlier this year. The downsized design includes 90 residential units, 20 of which are earmarked as affordable housing, and 32,000 square feet of commercial space in addition to a 4,000-square-foot building that the developers hope to donate to PC Tots for use as a childcare center.
However, the land is currently zoned as rural residential, which encourages the development of single-family homes instead of a mixed-use neighborhood. That spurred Columbus Pacific Development to submit a rezone request to change the property to community commercial, allowing commercial and residential development in the same area.
The Planning Commission forwarded a unanimous positive recommendation in July, and the project appeared before the County Council for the first time this week.
“This one’s close to me, both personally and professionally,” said Tony Tyler, a Silver Creek resident and Columbus Pacific Development partner. “My family and I live in the neighborhood behind this one, so we’re very close, and I drive by this almost daily. For me, it’s more of a passion project than a traditional development.”
Tyler said the Snyderville Basin General Plan in 2015 outlined the area in Silver Creek where the development is proposed as a future commercial space or mixed-use neighborhood despite its zoning as rural residential. He said the proposed neighborhood park, trails and childcare center will benefit the Silver Creek community at large, while the affordable housing offerings will bring families to the area and help Summit County’s housing disparities.
One resident voiced his opposition to the project at the public hearing, saying he thought it would change Silver Creek forever because of the development’s density compared to surrounding neighborhoods.
However, other speakers said they liked the project and were excited it would bring new services to Silver Creek.
“My opinion is that Silver Creek and Park City in general could use a lot of this product that’s being proposed,” said resident Tim Anker. “I think that the density and the product type are measured and appropriate for the location that’s being proposed here. … It’d be great to have some commercial services that would keep you from getting on the freeway and having to move around town just for simple commercial services.”
Meanwhile, Bev Harrison emphasized the importance of using mixed-use developments to tackle the area’s housing issues and praised Tyler’s track record of building affordable housing, including Slopeside Village.
“He’s not in the business to make tons of dough. He’s in the business to get families to live in our community,” Harrison said. “Affordable housing is for cool people who do all the sports and recreational activities we wealthier people do, but they cannot afford to live here. Give them a chance and give our community some vibrancy.”
However, County Council Vice Chair Roger Armstrong expressed his displeasure with the project. Armstrong said he expected more, adding that Tyler typically submits proposals with a higher percentage of affordable housing.
“I’m generally very impressed by your developments because I think you tend to go above and beyond,” Armstrong said. “This is backwards, and it’s unlike you. You’re usually the other way, and I’m surprised that you didn’t find a way to make that (work), and I’m frankly disappointed.”
Armstrong said the development would also lead to more congestion because the site plan doesn’t have enough space to build stores that would prevent people from needing to travel outside of Silver Creek.
“There’s nothing in this that will keep people here,” he said. “They’re still going to have to go to Kimball Junction to grocery shop. They’re still going to go into Kimball Junction for restaurants or entertainment.”
County Council Chair Canice Harte agreed with Armstrong, saying he didn’t think the development showed that it met the required “compelling countervailing public interest” outlined in the General Plan to warrant rezoning the land. He said he liked the direction of the project, but the affordable housing options were too limited to consider the project an overwhelming community benefit.
“I’m not hostile to the idea,” Harte said. “I just don’t think it’s hitting the benchmark that we’re looking for right now.”
Tyler said he could add four affordable units in the apartment complexes, but his company has already spent too much time and money to add more without risking the project’s financial stability.
Specifically, Tyler said the county’s lengthy and intensive rezone process has affected the project’s budget. He said that’s why he advocated for the passage of an ordinance changing how developers obtain a rezone in the Snyderville Basin, which the County Council passed in a 3-2 vote earlier the same day.
“The concern I have here is that I have squeezed this every way from Sunday to try to get more out of it from an affordable housing perspective,” Tyler said. “It doesn’t exist. If I start restricting more of the individual townhomes, the whole (thing) breaks. I can’t afford to build it.”
Tyler said he’d be willing to consider changing the affordable housing apartments from for-lease to for-sale, but he couldn’t convert 24 of the townhomes into affordable or attainable housing, which Robinson had suggested as a compromise.
“I can’t pull additional revenue from nowhere, so I want a project I can actually build,” he said. “If the intent is to try to get another 24 units out of it, I can tell you that’s an impossibility.”
County Councilor Tonja Hanson said she supported the rezone request, calling the plan “thoughtful” and praising Tyler’s intent to donate land to PC Tots.
“While it’s not perfect, and we’ve all established the problem and we’re working toward making that process better, I would hate to see us lose this opportunity at this point,” agreed County Councilor Megan McKenna.
The County Council voted to approve the request in a 3-2 vote, with McKenna, Robinson and Hanson in favor of the rezone while Armstrong and Harte opposed it.
Columbus Pacific Development and the Summit County government will now draft a development agreement for the project, which will include details on the number and price of affordable housing units, as well as whether they are for sale or for lease.