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Annexation Still a Possibility for Hideout After Friday’s Meeting

Town of Hideout

The Town of Hideout on the northeast shore of the Jordanelle Reservoir held a public meeting Friday. The town wanted to discuss their options after a judge granted a preliminary injunction to Summit County over the town’s attempt to annex 655 acres of Summit County’s land. 

 

Hideout’s Town Council stressed several times to the members of the public in attendance that Friday’s meeting was purely informational and no definitive actions were going to be taken.

 

The town council explained their desire to annex into Summit County stems from a lack of services planned for the Jordanelle area. It’s possible up to 20,000 housing units could be built in the region in the coming years and Hideout believes Summit and Wasatch counties  have not adequately planned for that growth.

 

The two counties dispute that claim and point to planned development areas in the Silver Creek Village along US 189 and the various planned communities around the Jordanelle Reservoir that include entitlements for commercial development. The Wasatch County School District has owned an elementary school site near the Mayflower exit on the west shore of the reservoir for the last 25 years.

 

Hideout Town Councilmember Jerry Dwinell said he would very much like to see the detailed plans for these areas before making any decisions on future annexations.

 

“I’m really interested in what those plans are,” Dwinell said. “That can help inform our decision as we decide if we’re going to move forward with anything or not. I think it’s important for us to understand if these needs that we perceive are, in fact, in the works somewhere else. That certainly should advise us.” 

 

Developer Nate Brockbank also presented a revised and scaled-back development plan for the Richardson Flat area. He said that the original published numbers for his North Park development of 200,000 square feet of commercial area, 100,000 square feet of office space, and 3,500 residential units represented the maximum possible for the area and was not an accurate representation of what would actually be built. Brockbank added he was in it for the long haul and wants to build on the property he owns in Richardson Flat.

 

Councilmember Dwinell said a decision to annex that land is one the council doesn't take lightly.

 

“I think it’s important that everyone understand this is not an easy decision for anyone,” he said. “These are difficult concepts, difficult things to consider and I take that very seriously.”

 

The town of Hideout is also in a unique geographic area. The town is surrounded on nearly all sides by either the Jordanelle Reservoir or Summit County land, but isn’t part of Summit County. Councilmember Chris Baier said this puts the town in an uncomfortable position.

 

“You want to go from eastern to western Summit County, you have to pass through Hideout, so we are essentially connecting Summit County with Summit County, yet we’re not part of Summit County,” Baier said. “We’re in this very odd place of need but being ignored by one county and, perhaps, I’m going to say despised by the other. At least despised at the moment. We’re definitely in this odd place. I can tell you none of us want to be here.”

 

The Hideout Town Council decided to revisit the annexation discussion at another public meeting next Tuesday at 5:30pm.

 

Summit County has expressed a willingness to do whatever is necessary to keep land in their county under their control. If Hideout  decides to move forward with another annexation plan, it is very possible the two sides could find themselves back in court in the near future.

Sean Higgins covers all things Park City and is the Saturday Weekend Edition host at KPCW. Sean spent the first five years of his journalism career covering World Cup skiing for Ski Racing Media here in Utah and served as Senior Editor until January 2020. As Senior Editor, he managed the day-to-day news section of skiracing.com, as well as produced and hosted Ski Racing’s weekly podcast. During his tenure with Ski Racing Media, he was also a field reporter for NBC Sports, covering events in Europe.
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