Wednesday, Wakara developer Rich Wolper gave a history of the past year of negotiations between the business community and local governments regarding West 200 South.
It’s commonly referred to as the “gun club road” and it leads from Kamas to Wasatch County east of the Jordanelle Reservoir.
That makes it the backdoor to Tuhaye and the only entrance to Wakara. Both luxury gated communities have been under construction as of late.
Wolper said his development doesn’t generate nearly the amount of construction vehicle traffic Tuhaye has.
“If you were at that road, six months ago, last summer, maybe eight months ago, it was horrible. And then it just stopped,” Wolper said at the April 23 county council meeting. “When they finished their phase, it stopped.”
So he said Tuhaye is done, except for homes individuals decide to build.
But in response to resident concerns about dust and safety — speeds have topped 90 mph on the road — Summit County has considered closing West 200 South to all traffic.
Wolper alerted the county to his development, which would be marooned, and that set off a series of private meetings to work something out.
He says he met with the mayor of Kamas, who told him to find an alternate access.
Wolper went to three property owners north of him to explore possible options. All were open to a road, but with some conditions.
One person wanted Wolper to build a structure for him because he’d need to move his sheep. Another would let Wolper build a new road if he also transferred the right to develop a few homes to him.
The third property owner was also OK with a road, but warned Wolper it may be impassable in the winter.
Summit County’s civil attorney said that whole area is illegally subdivided, throwing a wrench in Wolper’s verbal agreements.
The developer said he worked out a deal for two years of construction access, which is what would be needed for him to finish both phases of Wakara, with the three property owners.
After that, any individual homes would need to still use the gun club road to build.
The county made a preliminary offer that Wakara pave the whole gun club road, pay to maintain it and never use it for construction traffic. But there isn’t unanimity among county officials about whether that’s a good deal for Summit County residents.
Wolper said he couldn’t accept it because he didn’t have a permanent construction traffic solution.
“What I'm trying to do is, you know, please everybody,” he said. “And save my project. So I've offered an alternate route. It didn't work. We got an offer from you guys that had just problems that we couldn't overcome.”
Gun club road resident Jeramy Bristol acknowledged the situation and “pickle” Wakara is in, since the development can’t use Tuhaye’s private road to the north and butts up against the Jordanelle Reservoir to the west and south. But he added residents’ priority is that Wakara find another access point.
“Construction traffic might go away, but residential traffic will not. Speeds are a massive issue,” Bristol said.
He floated the idea that the county build a new road through the Ure Ranch, which it is in the process of buying for open space. Councilmember Chris Robinson said that’s unlikely to work.
“Number one, we don't own it yet. The Ures still own it. Until we close on the whole property, it's not ours to speak for,” he said. “Number two, [county staff have] secured funding from various sources to conserve that property that we believe if we run a road up through the middle of it, we're going to lose — it’s millions of dollars.”
And Wakara and Tuhaye residents are still likely to drive the unpaved road regardless, according to Robinson. The alternate road would pass through the proposed town of West Hills, too.
“Right now, Summit County is acting as the land use authority and highway authority for this piece of real estate, which could change if there were, by some event, a municipality created there,” Robinson said. “So be careful what you wish for.”
Council Chair Tonja Hanson said the county is not seeking a short-term solution, so officials will take more time to deliberate and talk with stakeholders.
Another discussion hasn’t been scheduled yet. But any action the county council takes as the highway authority must be done in a public meeting.
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