A Park City nonprofit signed a deal to conserve a Midway hot springs property.
At the request of Midway City and with broad support in other local governments, the Summit Land Conservancy purchased 40 acres of the Mountain Spa property.
The 40 acres make up about half of Mountain Spa’s 78 total acres. They’re situated adjacent to River Road and Burgi Lane.
“We heard from community members there in Midway that these are really important to the feel – the rural community – as people come into town, as people come home to Midway,” said Cheryl Fox, the executive director of the Summit Land Conservancy.
The conservancy’s website says it will “minimize and cluster development” and restore a boutique resort there. It’ll also create four homesites.
A developer got approval to build on the site in 2007 but has since agreed to cut their plans in half from the original agreement.
Fox said Midway residents support the resort plans because they’ll bring in sales tax revenue.
The hot springs there will still be available to the public but within the resort, so not free to access.
The resort area’s future has been a frequent topic at Midway City Council and Wasatch County Council meetings recently.
Fox signed papers in Heber City to make it official Tuesday.
“We were able to reduce the density by massive amounts on the property, so this is pretty exciting,” she said. “We started looking at a bunch of different options and ways to preserve this property. It has a lot of challenges, you know. It’s in the Midway city limit, so it had incredibly high density, which made it very expensive.”
The nonprofit used $1.8 million in open space funding from the city and county, and it’s partnering with other agencies as well.
“We were really fortunate. We found some great partners, including the Midway Open Space Committee and Midway City Council. They were funded through a bond that was passed in 2 018. And then also Wasatch County and the Wasatch County Open Lands Board, they also wanted to see the green pasture protected,” Fox said.
Going forward, some buildings Fox described as “derelict” will be taken down or renovated.
Aside from the “hot pots,” or springs, the open space the conservancy preserved will include geological craters, wetlands, and areas important to winter wildlife.
To learn more about the Summit Land Conservancy, visit wesaveland.org.
