My non-lawyer reading of Summit County’s suit against DPRE (Dakota Pacific) and the Utah Legislature indicates to me that the county has a good chance of prevailing on the issues of constitutional and legislative drafting. Success in this regard will benefit not only Summit County but all of the cities and counties in the Utah. The Legislature’s arrogant abuse of power was an affront to every city and county in the state. A Utah Supreme Court ruling on this issue will stop future similar acts by the Legislature.

However, victory in this suit will be pyrrhic. The state Legislature has enormous discretionary power, given to it by the state constitution in the areas of fiscal appropriations and supervision of the lower rungs of local government. It will be able to find a constitutionally legal method to get its way. The Legislature has legitimate concerns about the availability of affordable housing, traffic congestion and air quality to find a legal method of cajoling or requiring better efforts from local government on these issues.

Summit County has taken significant actions to remedy our affordable housing problem, but they have been seriously inadequate for the scale of the problem. Summit County has a history of continuous growth of lower-paying jobs. The latest statistics indicate that over 2,000 new jobs were created in the county in the last year. In my six years on the County Council, inbound commutes to the county increased by 3,000 cars per day. There is considerable public opinion in Summit County that supports the idea that workers in Summit County who cannot find housing in their price range should commute. But this only exports our affordable housing problem to other counties, adds to air pollution in those counties from the commuter traffic and worsens the congestion at both Kimball and Quinn’s junctions.

There are traffic mitigation solutions for Kimball Junction, but they are expensive and will require significant appropriations from both the state and county. These solutions will not be implemented without development at Kimball Junction. Delay in implementing traffic solutions will only cause the daily traffic congestion to worsen. The fixes proposed by UDOT will solve the congestion problem for existing traffic volumes and for those including and exceeding additional input from development at Kimball Junction.

Dakota Pacific is not the enemy. In passing the Kimball Junction Neighborhood Plan, the county invited developers to propose a mixed-use project. The county was aware that an amendment to the existing development agreement would be necessary.

The Dakota Pacific plans are the right solution in the right place. A dense, walkable, net-zero-carbon, low-water-use development at a transit hub that includes significant affordable housing is exactly the type of development the county should be encouraging. Even the market rate housing has environmental benefits to Summit County. A $10 million penthouse condo that is net-zero-carbon with minimal outdoor irrigation is far superior to a single family house on five acres of irrigated grass and a heated driveway.

The earlier plan, B, also had right of way for a gondola that would take passengers to the UOP and potentially on to the Canyons. It also was of sufficient size to potentially generate tens of millions of dollars in tax-supported bonding that could be used by the county in supporting the S.R. 224 improvements and build parking directly accessible from I-80, so that day-trippers could take a gondola or public transit to the ski resorts. The mixed-use aspect also would support the economic diversity that was the unfulfilled goal of the Tech Park.

Improving relations with the Legislature needs to be an important goal of the county. While it is unlikely that the voters of Summit County will agree with a large portfolio of social and political efforts by the Legislature barring a major political realignment, it is important that the county government improve relations on issues where there are common concerns, like affordable housing, traffic, transit and air quality.  

The litigation provides the opportunity for the three parties to negotiate a deal that will satisfy all. A settlement might look like the following:

• The legislature acknowledges that spot zoning, under any guise, is not a legal action of the Legislature.
• Summit County and Dakota Pacific agree on a development plan. My personal opinion is the Plan B with Plan C elements adding senior housing and deleting the hotel would be the optimum plan.
• The Legislature agrees to rapidly approve and fund the S.R. 224 project and reinstate funding for High Valley Transit.

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"The Legislature is in session."

In the past two weeks we have seen more evidence of this in the request for an investigation of development policies in Summit County and the MIDA informational meeting.

The Senate has instigated an investigation of the Summit County planning process. One Senate leader implied that political favoritism was involved in awarding density variances. This is ironic, coming from someone who has cashed tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from developers and the state real-estate lobby. He accuses unpaid volunteers of succumbing to political influence. When sniffing out political influence it is best to follow the dictum "follow the money."

The MIDA process was steeped in political influence. Unhappy landowner(s) lobbied the Senate to establish a commission that could bypass the local planning process. Now we are stuck with a process that will steal future tax revenues and potentially create a massive commercial project, guaranteed to make profits for developers but with questionable economic viability and potential negative effects on local businesses.

Two of the root causes for the fate that awaits us lie in the uncontrolled campaign finance regime in Utah and the absolute power of legislative leaders with super majorities in both houses.

Our state-level politicians can take unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations and until just the past few months, could even spend those contributions on themselves. Is it any wonder that large contributors get what they want with the legislature?

The power of leaders with a super majority is just as insidious. Decisions are made behind closed doors in the Republican Caucus and woe be to the dissenter that opposes the rule of the leader. During the MIDA deliberations, Mel Brown was asked on KPCW what he would do about MIDA. He responded that he would vote against it, but trying to change minds was pointless in the face of the leadership’s position. This level of political cowardice from one who is supposed to have clout in the legislature is telling. Is this the person that we want to represent us?

Utah voters have a unique opportunity this year. We can elect leaders who will fight the influence of money and power. If we elect Peter Corroon and just a few more Democrats to the legislature, he will be able to veto objectionable legislation and have his veto sustained. This will be sea change in Utah politics. All of a sudden the leaders of the legislature will have to negotiate with a principled and equally powerful governor.

On November 2, elect Peter Corroon as governor, Paul Dowland in Senate District 26, Joel Briscoe in House District 25 and me, Glenn Wright, in House District 53. This is the election that can change the state.

Park City resident Glenn Wright is the Democratic candidate for the Utah House of Representatives in District 53, which covers Daggett and Morgan counties, most of Summit County, and parts of Rich and Wasatch counties.

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