Summit and Wasatch counties are Utah’s most expensive housing markets, according to a new report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. 

Utah ranks as the 10th most expensive state in the nation for single-family homes, with a median sales price of $559,900. Summit and Wasatch counties surpassed that number dramatically, with median sales prices of $2.2 million and $1.2 million, respectively, in the first quarter of 2026. 

Summit County saw a 5% decrease in median single-family home sales price from the first quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026. Wasatch County, however, saw a 21.8% increase in the same time period. 

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute reported that homeownership has fallen to “near historical lows,” though Utah’s homeownership rate continues to exceed the national average. In 2025, 68.2% of Utah households owned their home compared to 69.9% a decade ago. 

The report indicates that Utah’s housing demand will likely persist with the state’s growing population. Utah will need approximately 61,500 new owner and renter units targeting households ages 35 and younger, about 120,000 units for those aged 35 to 64 and another 98,000 for those 65 and older. 

Summit County Economic Development Director Jeff Jones said he’s not surprised by findings in the Policy Institute’s Report. 

In terms of homeownership, Jones said Summit County has significant challenges. 

“Different groups need different kinds of housing,” Jones said. 

Workforce populations and seniors have varying needs, Jones said, but there are also transitional and emergency housing needs. He cited the Cline Dahle project and others as examples of development that can help.

Cline Dahle is Columbus Pacific Development’s vision for affordable housing on about 30 acres of land in Jeremy Ranch. It’s a public-private partnership with the county, and developers pitched deed-restricted projects with a mix of units between 0% and 150% of the AMI, or area median income. 

Research for the project began in 2024, and implementation was scheduled for June 2025. 

“There’s no single solution that will move the needle without continued partnership,” Jones said. 

The Policy Institute findings are in line with research Jones has collected over the years.

Jones also revealed a breakdown of Summit County’s median housing prices by zip code. Park City saw a median housing price of $3.3 million in August 2026. Echo and Henefer had the lowest median housing prices in the county at $360,000 and $699,950, respectively. 

For every unit size, the maximum affordable rent reaches market parity at a lower AMI level than the maximum affordable sale price, according to Jones’ findings. 

The Policy Institute found 486 permitted residential units in Summit County and 959 in Wasatch County.

Jeffrey Bradshaw is the executive director of the Wasatch County Housing Authority, which supports Wasatch County residents looking to purchase a home. The group created a down-payment assistance fund to help qualified homebuyers obtain housing and supports nonprofit organizations working to help citizens afford housing. 

Like Jones, Bradshaw said the Policy Institute findings seemed in line with what he is seeing on the ground in Wasatch County. 

“It’s real expensive to build on the Wasatch Back, and folks can’t afford to buy homes,” Bradshaw said. 

He said there has been a sharp decrease in the number of down-payment assistance loans issued by the Wasatch County Housing Authority. Those loans sit at 2% interest for about 30 years. Bradshaw said it’s a good deal, but lately, it hasn’t been enough. 

“We haven’t made hardly any lately because the cost of housing is so high that down-payment assistance loans aren’t enough to help out,” Bradshaw said. 

To be specific, Bradshaw said that means just one over the past month. Those loans top out at about $30,000. With that one loan, Bradshaw said the board made an exception to grant the assistance to a couple making just over 80% of the area median income. 

The median household income in Summit County is $138,114, and in Wasatch County it’s $117,608. To afford a median-priced home with a 10% down payment, households in Summit County need an annual income of $427,300, and those in Wasatch need $304,900. 

But Bradshaw has not given up hope because there are programs that help, including rent-to-own opportunities and partnerships with groups like the Mountainlands Community Housing Trust. 

That organization gives applicants the opportunity to purchase deed-restricted homes. Buyers also put in sweat equity, helping to build the homes they will eventually own. 

He said the Wasatch County Housing Authority is also looking to hire a full-time executive director (Bradshaw is not full-time) who can implement new homebuyer assistance programs. 

Partnerships, Bradshaw said, are crucial. That’s especially true when the county or organizations like the Wasatch County Housing Authority work with developers. 

“The biggest challenge is being able to get them built somewhat affordable without it being too big of a subsidy,” Bradshaw said. “That’s the tough part.”

Building new homes in Wasatch County is a balancing act, Bradshaw said. 

“Developers realize they have to participate in it, but they’re out to make a living, too,” Bradshaw said. 

Despite rising costs and population, Bradshaw said organizations that help homebuyers in Wasatch County are heading in the right direction. 

“We’re here to try to help folks find places to live that they can afford,” Bradshaw said.

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Temple Har Shalom’s sign on S.R. 224 was vandalized over the weekend in what synagogue leaders are calling an antisemitic attack days before the Jewish community’s most important holidays.

Rabbi Jeff Dreifus said a synagogue administrator noticed the property damage on Monday and speculated the incident happened late Saturday night or Sunday. He said the sign’s letters had been ripped off and the Star of David was destroyed.

“It’s very disheartening because Jews have been part of Park City’s history and Park City’s community for so long and are so active in making this community better,” Dreifus said. “We call our synagogue our Jewish home in the mountains. For your home to be defaced by someone who clearly wants us not to feel comfortable and not feel safe in this community, it’s really sad.”

Temple Har Shalom President June K. Volk said the incident was additionally upsetting because it happened before Rosh Hashanah, one of the Jewish faith’s most important holidays. But the start of the High Holy Days, which begins with Rosh Hashanah on Friday night and will culminate with Yom Kippur toward the end of September, is also providing comfort in the wake of the vandalism.

“During these days, we do a lot of introspection, reflection, and we think about ways to make our world stronger and better,” Volk said. “We call that concept ‘tikkun olam,’ and that means ‘repairing the world.’ We look not only inward, but outward to do better for the coming year.”

Dreifus said the vandalism is “unfortunately not unexpected or surprising” considering the current political environment in the United States and the rise of anti-semitic conflicts over the past few years. His parents’ synagogue in Michigan, his cousin’s synagogue in Mississippi and his hometown synagogue in Tennessee have all been threatened with violence, which Dreifus said showcases the pervasive intimidation the Jewish faith is experiencing.

“This act was done by a person who doesn’t want us to feel safe in this community, but the Jewish faith and Jewish people are a people of joy and of finding meaning in life and of making the world a better place,” Dreifus said. “We’re not going to let this person’s act intimidate us or detract from our joy, especially in this season of the Jewish High Holy Days.”

Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputies are present for every synagogue event, and the building itself has cameras and security measures in place, Dreifus said. He emphasized Temple Har Shalom’s commitment to keeping the synagogue and its visitors safe, adding that more cameras will be installed to monitor the sign when it’s replaced.

“We have received so much support, and I think it’s important to keep that perspective,” Dreifus said. “Maybe there are a small few who want us to feel intimidated, but the vast majority of the people in Park City and the people in America and the people around the world are good neighbors and good friends and have love in their hearts. … We have a vibrant Jewish community, and we should be proud of that.”

Sgt. Skyler Talbot with the Sheriff’s Office said the department is investigating the vandalism, but it’s too early in the process to determine if there will be hate crime enhancements to any potential charges.

“Summit County is better than this,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Friday morning. “Intentionally damaging another person’s property is unacceptable, and targeting an individual or group because of their religion makes the conduct even more concerning. Every member of our community should feel safe and respected. The Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate acts of intimidation, harassment or discrimination directed at members of our community.”

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A proposal for a mixed-use neighborhood intended for residents 55 and older is moving to the Summit County Council for final approval after the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission unanimously forwarded a positive recommendation on Tuesday.

The 8-acre Silver Creek property is slightly southeast of Silver Creek Village. It is currently zoned as community commercial, but Bridgwater Consulting Group, which is helping develop the project alongside the property’s owners, requested a change to the neighborhood mixed-use zone to accommodate the project’s residential units.

The proposal includes plans for 74 residential units, with 30 of those earmarked as affordable housing. All units would be for sale rather than for rent, and the market rate units would be priced “consistent” with the Summit County and Park City area, according to the Bridgwater Consulting Group.

The consulting firm did not cite a specific price point for the affordable units, but the development team emphasized the community intends to serve residents 55 or older. 

The developers said they couldn’t legally restrict who moves in based on an applicant’s age, but the development’s marketing materials would target an older demographic. Bridgwater Consulting Group representatives said the neighborhood will provide older adults with an opportunity to downsize and stay in Summit County as they age.

In addition to housing, the proposal includes 6,300 square feet of commercial space and 5,600 square feet for indoor amenities. The development team is also coordinating with the county and High Valley Transit to install a transit hub to encourage residents to use public transportation, and trail connections would allow pedestrians and bikers to travel to Kimball Junction without a car.

The market rate units would have subterranean parking, while the affordable units would have surface parking. The developers said the difference in parking is due to the site’s layout and that expanding the underground garage would be too expensive and likely inconvenient for the affordable housing residents because of its location.

Developers also plan to build a park and amphitheater on the property, as well as a geothermal system underneath parking lots and walkways to melt snow in the winter and prevent residents from needing to shovel.

County planner Amir Caus said the county already contacted the Utah Department of Transportation about the development’s potential traffic impacts.

“We personally took UDOT on the tour of the entire Basin, but more particularly that entire neighborhood,” Caus said. “They’re taking into consideration resolving the current traffic issues, which we know are great, but also future projects as well, including this project.”

Planning Commissioner Spencer Young praised the developers’ decision to offer for sale affordable housing. Young said he supported a residential development in an area of the county dominated by commercial businesses, which was a concern Planning Commissioner Heather Peteroy raised.

“I actually think bringing a little bit of diversity to that area of the Basin isn’t a bad thing,” Young said. “It’s actually a healthy thing, so I don’t have a problem with that. The focus on mass transportation and active transportation seems really well thought out, and it is going to be helpful to the residents that live there, especially the residents they’re targeting. … I think the positives by far outweigh any negatives that would bring.”

The County Council will decide whether to rezone the property and approve the master plan development document, but a discussion had not been scheduled as of Thursday afternoon. If the County Council supports the project, staff will work with the development team to draft a legally binding development agreement.

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Developers with projects in the Snyderville Basin may soon be required to submit a traffic impact study if the proposal is expected to generate more than 25 trips during peak hours.

The code amendment, which the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission forwarded to the Summit County Council with a unanimous recommendation, would mandate that developers provide a traffic impact study if the project will generate enough “trip ends” during peak hours.

Peak hours are typically from 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., but planning commissioners requested a change to 7 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. They cited ski traffic and the county’s large commuter population as reasons to expand the window.

The county uses the trip end metric to determine the impact of a project and how much a developer will need to pay in impact fees. Trip ends refer to a driver’s final destination, not any ancillary stops. For example, if a driver leaves their home, stops at a gas station and then goes to a retail store, the trip end is the retail store, not the gas station.

Developers with large projects in the Basin typically submit a traffic impact study, but county planner Ray Milliner said those submissions have been a courtesy, not a requirement.

“Currently, there’s nothing in our code that requires them to do a traffic study, so if a developer were to say, ‘I just don’t want to do it,’ we don’t have any teeth in our code to make them do it,” he said. “Generally, they just do it because they feel like, ‘Well, it’s probably in our best interest,’ but what we’d like to do is say, ‘OK, this is required at this level, and it’s in the code, and you have to do it,’ and off we go.”

Summit County Transportation Planning Deputy Director Eva de Laurentiis said the proposed code amendment would require developers to hire a third-party engineering consultant and prepare a traffic impact study if the project is estimated to generate 25 or more trip ends during peak hours. The developer would be responsible for funding the study in addition to hiring an engineer.

“Our goal with this is then to put a form on the website that outlines what is expected out of an impact study and creates clear guidelines for that so that we have some uniformity in the studies,” de Laurentiis said.

If a traffic impact study determines the development needs mitigation because of the amount of traffic, the developer would be responsible for funding and constructing that infrastructure, such as installing a new traffic light or building a roundabout.

De Laurentiis said 25 trips may sound small, but it’s a standard in the transportation industry and the same benchmark Park City Municipal uses. She added that the county didn’t want to mandate a study for fewer than 25 trips to help local businesses, as traffic impact studies often cost between $20,000 and $40,000 to conduct.

“We’re not going to require that small businesses or even mid-sized businesses or retailers do these (traffic impact studies) for the most part unless they’re going to a large space,” de Laurentiis said. “It’s really for the larger developments that are going to have an immediate transportation infrastructure impact to our community. … We don’t want to be a barrier to entry for them to expand their businesses.”

Developers would also need to include information on traffic changes throughout each phase of a project to give county officials an idea of how infrastructure will be affected as construction progresses.

The Planning Commission immediately expressed support for the change, with Planning Commissioner Tyann Mooney saying the board has “been begging for this for a while.”

The County Council will have the final say in whether the code amendment passes, but a vote has not yet been scheduled as of Thursday afternoon.

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Eric Mainord, a Summit County sheriff’s deputy who briefly ran for sheriff in Wasatch County, had at least three formal complaints filed against him during his previous employment with the Heber City Police Department, according to documents provided to The Park Record through a public records request.

Outgoing Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby, who lost the primary election this summer to Wasatch County Director of Emergency Services Jeremy Hales, contacted Summit County officials in January to express concerns about Mainord’s involvement in the Kouri Richins trial. Mainord withdrew from the race on May 27.

Mainord announced his candidacy for Wasatch County sheriff on Jan. 7, and Rigby met with Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates the following day. Rigby, now under investigation in Summit County for allegedly interfering with a criminal case, brought a list of 13 claims he said would damage Mainord’s credibility, all of which reportedly stemmed from his employment with the Heber City Police Department from 2013 to 2019.

The Park Record obtained documentation of complaints filed against Mainord while he was employed by Heber City through a Government Records Access and Management Act, which showed he was disciplined and placed on probation at least three times while a member of the Heber City Police Department.

On Tuesday, Mainord declined to comment on the complaints filed against him or the ongoing criminal investigation into Rigby’s actions.

A letter from the Police Department dated Aug. 3, 2015, said Mainord had acted in “an abusive manner” toward a citizen and called his behavior “angry, unprofessional (and) rude.” It also said Mainord threatened to cite or arrest the citizen for an incident “that did not occur” and that he “had insufficient evidence for charges.”

Three supervisors within the department investigated the complaint and determined Mainord had acted inappropriately, according to the letter.

“We are surprised and concerned over the anger you exhibited in the video and concerned with your personal wellbeing and potential stressors that may be aggravating your wellbeing,” the letter said. “We find also that the allegations are sustained and a violation of, or in conflict with, various policies and procedures.”

One policy infraction included a failure to read the citizen their Miranda rights, which inform people of their constitutional rights during a police investigation, the letter said. He also reportedly failed to activate his body camera as required by the department when a situation “becomes adversarial.”

The letter said department supervisors were concerned about Mainord’s behavior because of two previous incidents that caused him to be verbally reprimanded in 2013 and 2014.

Specifically, the document said Mainord cursed at a member of the public at a farmers market in 2013 and was “verbally counseled and warned to correct the behavior.” In 2014, he was again verbally reprimanded for arguing with a Wasatch County employee, according to the letter.

Mainord was asked to comply with a “fitness for duty examination” and follow any recommendations in addition to attending a required anger management class. He was also suspended from participating in special assignments, such as the SWAT team, and barred from receiving overtime unless approved by a supervisor for six months.

He violated the department’s corrective action plan less than two months after the first letter was issued, according to the document.

On Oct. 1, 2015, Mainord was reprimanded for a second time after he allegedly failed to follow orders, “used inappropriate force” and “acted unprofessionally in the presence of the general public by using unnecessary foul language.”

The letter said Mainord was asked to protect an underage girl during an “undercover takedown operation” involving an individual suspected of an inappropriate relationship with the minor. Mainord was ordered to stay with the girl while other officers apprehended the adult individual outside of a restaurant, but Mainord allegedly entered the establishment and contacted the suspect before he left the building.

“You drew your weapon on a suspect who was not posing any threat, whose arms were occupied with a package, and there was no specific information available indicating that there would be a threat,” the letter said. “While your weapon was drawn, you physically engaged the suspect without holstering your weapon while other officers were available to physically take the suspect into custody.”

The document said Mainord also “used foul language in front of uninvolved restaurant patrons and employees.”

Mainord’s supervisors wrote that he violated the city’s personnel policy by refusing to “comply with lawful instruction” and engaging in “insubordination” in addition to violating the Police Department’s procedures surrounding reasonable force and professionalism.

“The violations are further aggravated by recent discipline where mistreatment of another member of the public was addressed,” the letter said. “Because these types of incidents are continuing, a pattern of poor relations between you, the general public and neighboring agencies continues to bring discredit to the Heber City Police Department.”

The second incident led the department to place Mainord on probation for one year, which meant he was ineligible to participate in specialized or out-of-state training, as well as specialized assignments. He was removed from the SWAT team, and the active period for his corrective action plan was extended until May 2016.

Mainord was denied a merit pay increase for the year, too.

The department also mandated Mainord meet with a supervisor “bi-monthly” to “concentrate on (his) attitude and feelings pertaining to the general public, surrounding agencies” and the Heber City Police Department. The supervisor was responsible for documenting Mainord’s work performance and providing him with “coping mechanisms in dealing with stress and deescalating situations.”

Mainord was disciplined for a third time in 2017 after he was involved in a “verbal altercation” with a Utah Highway Patrol trooper, according to another letter in Mainord’s personnel file. The document said the trooper was removing debris from U.S. 40 when Mainord drove by and allegedly passed the trooper “too close,” which caused the trooper to make a rude hand gesture at Mainord.

Mainord then pulled over to talk with the trooper, but the “discussion quickly turned heated and generated a complaint” from the Utah Highway Patrol, the letter said.

Mainord’s supervisors wrote he “unnecessarily” stopped to interact with the trooper “who was obviously hostile” and chose to engage in an argument instead of apologizing, de-escalating the situation or ignoring the trooper. Mainord also cursed at the trooper and reportedly taunted him, based on body camera video the department reviewed.

“The altercation became so heated that (the trooper) called for backup units,” the letter said. “Regardless of our opinion of (the trooper’s) choice, this caused multiple emergency resources to be deployed unnecessarily to a ridiculous situation that you had every opportunity to avoid.”

The letter said Mainord showed a “continuing pattern of conduct” that is “further degrading relations” between Mainord, the public and other law enforcement agencies.

“This discredit has now become so pronounced that when the Wasatch County sheriff was called to testify on a legal action against you, his testimony was damaging,” the letter said, referring to former Wasatch County Sheriff Todd Bonner. “This despite the case being defensible in every other way.”

The document said Mainord was told to take days off with pay and “analyze (his) desire to remain with the department.” He was asked to provide a corrective action plan to his supervisors but failed to do so, which the letter said was “discouraging.”

Mainord was suspended without pay for five days and reassigned as a code enforcement officer and bailiff. He was placed on probation for one year and denied a merit pay increase.

The department also mandated that Mainord meet with a supervisor once a week to discuss his feelings about the job and learn coping strategies. Mainord also received another body camera, which he was directed to activate “anytime a contact becomes ‘adversarial.’”

Mainord appealed the disciplinary actions associated with the Utah Highway Patrol incident, but former Heber City Manager Mark Anderson upheld the department’s findings after reviewing statements from Mainord and the state trooper, body camera footage and internal city reports.

“As I contemplated what a fair outcome would be, the issue that I have to grapple with is the fact that there is a documented pattern of confrontational behavior that has caused harm to the Heber City Police Department’s reputation and enhanced potential liability/risk to the city,” Anderson wrote. “As we discussed, the public is more likely to file suit against the city if the officer involved in an incident has a history of documented aggressive behavior. The risk is increased if other law enforcement agencies view the officer as a problem officer that is difficult to work with.”

Anderson added that he was “confident” Mainord had “the work ethic to be very successful in code enforcement” and encouraged him to view the reassignment as a way to “have a huge positive impact on the appearance of our community.”

“Lastly, Eric, please be aware that the city acknowledges that you have made progress in this area, and that you have solved several high profile crimes through tenacious work effort and … good judgment in many instances,” Anderson said. “The city also appreciates your continued loyalty you have shown. I hope that you will address the issues identified by police leadership, as you have the potential to make a big difference in the department and the city.”

Rigby had not responded to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon.

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The Summit County Council unanimously approved the redevelopment of Junction Commons into a residential and commercial hub on Tuesday, which marks the first use of the Snyderville Basin’s neighborhood mixed-use zone since its creation more than five years ago.

“We’re really happy and impressed that you’re able to use that NMU zone,” County Council Chair Canice Harte told the developers after the vote. “We’re excited to see what this brings. The blend of residential mixed with the enhanced commercial experience is something that I think the community will benefit from.”

Singerman Real Estate purchased the outlet mall in 2018, three years before the County Council created the neighborhood mixed-use zone. The neighborhood mixed-use zone accommodates projects with at least three land uses, such as commercial, residential and recreational areas. It also requires at least 50% of the development’s housing units be earmarked as affordable.

The approval this week authorized a rezone of the Junction Commons property from the town center zone to the neighborhood mixed-use zone. The County Council also voted in favor of a master plan development document, which will be further refined as the county government and Singerman Real Estate work to draft a legally binding development agreement before construction begins.

The proposal to redevelop the outlet mall outlines plans for 370 residential units, 220 of which will be earmarked as affordable housing. Of those affordable units, 188 will be priced around the 80% area median income, or AMI, mark. The remaining 32 units will be priced around the 60% AMI mark.

The developers said they plan to use a system that averages the AMIs of the affordable units, allowing for more flexibility. For example, if a resident in an affordable unit receives a pay raise, their AMI would increase, and the rent payment would rise in proportion to their new salary. This permits the developer to lease the next affordable unit at a lower AMI, according to Singerman Real Estate representatives.

The project also reduces existing commercial space on the property by approximately 56,000 square feet. The residential units, which are a mix of townhomes and apartment buildings, will be integrated into commercial spaces.

The site plan for the Junction Commons redevelopment has been downsized since it was first presented to the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission. The original proposal included 433 residential units, with 205 units set aside as affordable housing.

However, the County Council expressed concerns about the project’s density and traffic impacts, especially in combination with other Snyderville Basin developments, such as Altus Park City or the Utah Olympic Park expansion.

The reduction in units amounted to a 14% decrease from the original proposal.

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The Summit County Council appears poised to revoke the permit allowing Spoil to Soil to operate a recycling facility and tree farm in Browns Canyon, but a final decision has been delayed for at least three weeks after the county’s legal counsel suggested meeting in a closed session.

The County Council in October ruled the business had six months to fix violations that county staff reported on the site. Councilors last heard an update on the process in February, with a final decision scheduled for May. However, the vote on whether to permanently revoke the property’s conditional use permit was delayed until this month due to an ongoing lawsuit Spoil to Soil filed against the county in Third District Court.

Amir Caus, a county planner, on Wednesday said there had not been “any substantial changes to the property” since February and provided councilors with a staff report recommending they revoke the conditional use permit.

But Spoil to Soil’s attorney, Kyle Reeder, argued that the county improperly alerted the business to the alleged violations, most of which he claimed had either been fixed or were in the process of being resolved. He said remaining issues on the site shouldn’t be grounds for revoking the permit because of the improper noticing system, adding that financial struggles are also making it difficult to clean the property.

“At this point, it’s a cost issue,” Reeder said. “They’ve been shut down since October. They don’t have the machine anymore or the funding to go through the compost without being able to sell the compost itself.”

The County Council questioned Reeder about Spoil to Soil’s inability to acquire a permit from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality authorizing the property to operate as a composting site. Reeder, who provided councilors with copies of letters from the state agency, said the delay was the result of staffing changes and that Spoil to Soil shouldn’t be penalized for the state’s actions.

“This is outside the control of my client,” he said. “This is something that’s a process with the state. As long as the state takes, that’s how long the state takes.”

However, County Council Vice Chair Roger Armstrong pointed out that the letters said Spoil to Soil was consistently failing to provide the necessary documentation.

“This thing gets weirder and weirder and weirder,” Armstrong said. “I’ve read the DEQ letters. The DEQ letters say that they’ve repeatedly asked you for information, and you have repeatedly provided incomplete information. That doesn’t sound like an application in good faith. … Convince me that you’re trying to do the right thing here.”

The staff report also listed engineering problems on the property, including a discrepancy between the approved site plan and the company’s current operations, but Reeder argued that the stop work order in October prevented Spoil to Soil from finishing construction on key aspects of the project.

“A lot of these … engineering issues can be cured by allowing the continued building of the (tree farm) platforms,” he said. “That’s where a lot of the issues arise is from an uncompleted and unfinished project.”

The conditional use permit required Spoil to Soil to widen portions of Lower Bowl Road to accommodate commercial traffic, which had not been completed when county staff last inspected the property in April. However, Reeder said a neighboring property owner had widened the road over the summer, which satisfies the conditions outlined in the permit and nullifies the alleged violation.

“In our view, this is a moot point,” Reeder said. “The road has been widened. If the county believes that there needs to be something else done with the road, we ask to have discussions and figure out what they need.”

But Caus said the road had not been widened to the county’s knowledge, and engineering staff confirmed no permits had been requested or granted authorizing an expansion of the road.

Reeder called a revocation of the property’s conditional use permit a “disproportionate remedy.” He suggested keeping composting and recycling operations suspended until the Department of Environmental Quality issues a permit while still allowing the company to open the tree farm and finish construction work.

“The reason it’s out of compliance with code is because we stopped construction mid process and that if we were to continue to be allowed to build out the tree platforms, that wouldn’t be an issue,” Reeder said. “But it’s out of compliance because they showed up to do an inspection on a half-completed project, and we were told to stop the project.”

The County Council overwhelmingly disagreed with Reeder’s assertions that Spoil to Soil had engaged in the process “in good faith,” with County Council Chair Canice Harte saying the company’s arguments showed “a consistent pattern of blaming other people for (its) inaction.”

“We thought we gave you an exorbitantly long amount of time to get yourself in compliance, so I think what you’re saying is you chose not to get into compliance for financial reasons, which is part of doing business,” Harte said. “Everything is always someone else’s fault, so let’s skip past that because that’s not going to help us.”

Armstrong said he was concerned about what would happen to the property if the County Council were to revoke the permit because the lack of a binding reclamation agreement, which governs how commercial or industrial land will be restored, is one of the company’s alleged violations.

“If we revoke this permit and do a reset, there’s an unlicensed landfill, as far as I can tell, on that property,” Armstrong said. “If we revoke the (conditional use permit), how do we ensure that the material that’s illegally there is removed?”

Chief Civil Deputy David Thomas suggested the County Council meet in a closed session on Sept. 16 to discuss potential paths forward, especially legal options relating to the reclamation of the land. Councilors plan to hold another meeting and announce a verdict the following week on Sept. 23.

The Eastern Summit County Planning Commission revoked Spoil to Soil’s conditional use permit last year after county officials presented a 55-page report detailing dozens of reported violations on the property, including unauthorized trash and animal carcasses.

The business appealed the decision to the County Council, which led to councilors’ offer to give Spoil to Soil six months to fix outstanding violations. The deadline was on April 15, the same day Spoil to Soil filed a lawsuit against the county government.

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The Summit County Council postponed a vote on the proposed Junction Commons redevelopment to next week after the county’s legal counsel said the agenda item had been noticed incorrectly and needed to be rescheduled.

Singerman Real Estate, the company that purchased the outlet mall in 2018, submitted plans to rezone the property from the town center zone to the neighborhood mixed-use zone, which encourages developers to build affordable housing alongside commercial stores.

The proposal outlines plans for 370 residential units, 220 of which will be earmarked as affordable housing. Of those affordable units, 188 will be priced around the 80% area median income, or AMI, mark, while the remaining 32 units will be priced around the 60% AMI.

The developers said they plan to use a system that averages the AMIs of the affordable units, allowing for more flexibility. For example, if a resident in an affordable unit receives a pay raise, their AMI would increase, and the rent payment will rise in proportion to their new salary. This permits the developer to lease the next affordable unit for a lower AMI, according to Singerman Real Estate representatives.

The project also reduces existing commercial space on the property by approximately 56,000 square feet. The residential units, which are a mix of townhomes and apartment buildings, will be integrated into the commercial space.

County councilors overwhelmingly expressed their support for the project on Wednesday and were poised to make a motion approving the development’s master plan until Chief Civil Deputy David Thomas said the agenda item had been noticed incorrectly, which halted the process.

Specifically, the agenda item was marked as a possible approval of the master plan development rather than the rezone request, which the developers need to obtain before the larger plan advances.

The County Council will instead meet virtually at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday to vote on the rezone and master plan document during a special meeting. If the master plan is approved, the county will then negotiate with Singerman Real Estate to draft a formal development agreement.

The site plan for the Junction Commons redevelopment project has been downsized since it was first presented to the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission. The original proposal included 433 residential units, with 205 earmarked as affordable housing, but the County Council expressed concerns about the project’s density and traffic impacts, especially in combination with other Snyderville Basin developments, such as Altus Park City or the Utah Olympic Park expansion.

The reduction in units amounted to a 14% decrease from the original proposal.

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The Eastern Summit County Planning Commission is focusing on preserving the area’s rural small-town character and protecting as much open space as possible in an update to an influential document.

The commission has been working for months on amendments to its General Plan, which is an advisory, nonbinding document designed to guide growth and development in unincorporated areas of the East Side. The Snyderville Basin uses a separate General Plan to guide the western part of Summit County.

A staff report says the update is intended to maintain the qualities that make eastern Summit County unique. The planning area is characterized by its rural communities, agricultural landscapes, water resources and strong connection to the surrounding natural environment, according to the General Plan.

“Periodic review and amendment help ensure that the Plan’s vision, goals, and policies continue to reflect community priorities, changing conditions, and anticipated growth,” the staff report says. 

On Thursday, community members provided input at a public hearing about the staff’s initial draft of the updated general plan. Residents spoke about specifically moving to the East Side because of its rural and agricultural atmosphere. 

One community member said a herd of cows came onto her driveway recently, and she preferred the noise they made to the noise of a city.

Another compared a rural community to a family, saying people knew who to turn to for help during the COVID-19 pandemic. The woman said people in a rural community care about each other and serve their neighbors.

Several community members said there had not been enough time to study the proposed amendments. The staff report and General Plan draft, totaling 72 pages, were posted two days before the meeting, though the discussions have been ongoing.

Planning commissioners decided they need more public input before making a recommendation on the proposed amendments to the Summit County Council, which has the final decision on any changes. Officials encourage more public outreach, which could include an open house or more hearings.

In addition, the commissioners want to shore up the draft plan with additional details.

“We’ve spent a lot of time looking at what’s in the document,” Planning Commissioner Bridget Hayes said. “What we have yet to do is look to determine what’s not in the document. I think most people here support growth, but we do not want to turn into Park City East. We need to put guardrails up that prevent that from happening.”

Planning Commissioner David Darcey said the “elephant in the room is the ability for a developer to come in now and develop 400 acres and put 2,000 or 3,000 homes on it.”

“I mean, we can say ‘rural atmosphere all day long until we’re blue in the face,” he said. “But what can we put that really comes across the same?”

Other goals in the Eastern Summit County General Plan are to provide moderate-income housing opportunities; consider incentives to encourage private sector development of moderate-income housing; promote a mix of housing types and availability; address the housing needs of county residents who earn less than 80% of the area median income, which is $134,160 a year for a family of four in Summit County; and reduce regulations related to accessory dwelling units.

The General Plan also calls for supporting a resilient and diverse economy in eastern Summit County by strengthening existing communities, supporting local businesses and agriculture, and encouraging economic opportunities that are compatible with the county’s rural character and natural environment.

Water-related goals include improving countywide drought resilience and institutional water efficiency, protecting local and agricultural water sources and coordinating with stakeholders to protect water delivery systems.

Another goal is to provide public facilities and services that protect public health and safety, support rural communities, promote fiscal responsibility and align with eastern Summit County’s long-term growth patterns.

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A Park City dentist has been charged with two felonies and multiple misdemeanors after he allegedly engaged in “unlawful sexual conduct” with a teenager and provided her with illegal drugs.

The 16-year-old girl reported Benjamin James Wilson, a dentist with Mountain High Family Dental, to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. She told investigators that Wilson had given her alcohol, “molly, weed and shrooms” when she was visiting Park City in June.

The teenager also disclosed that Wilson had given her nitrous oxide at his dental office and asked her to “measure his” genitals in exchange for more drugs, which she did.

The Summit County Attorney’s Office filed charges against Wilson on Thursday. He is facing two second-degree felonies for the distribution of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor for unlawful sexual conduct with a teenager, a Class A misdemeanor for giving alcohol to a minor and a Class B misdemeanor for “contributing to the delinquency of a minor.”

Third District Judge Richard Mrazik signed a warrant for Wilson’s arrest, and he was scheduled to attend court in an initial appearance on Friday.

Second-degree felonies carry a potential prison sentence of one to 15 years and up to a $10,000 fine.

Mountain High Family Dental had not responded to a request for comment, including details on Wilson’s employment status with the business, by the time of publication.

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