The Summit County Jail and the Home Depot in Silver Summit might be getting some new neighbors.
Summit County owns about 125 acres in the area just east of Old U.S. 40, and is planning to use some of the land to build a new space for the Sheriff’s Office and County Attorney.
Summit County Manager Tom Fisher said the county intends to submit in the coming days a plan to subdivide the land into six lots, carving off five- and 10-acre chunks for different entities. The plan is to leave a large parcel untouched, with what Fisher calls “no projected use.”
The High Valley Transit District and the Mountain Regional Water Special Service District are both expected to purchase five or more acres for their headquarters.
He said the county owes five acres to Property Reserve, Inc., or PRI, the real estate arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Park City will also receive 10 acres. Both arrangements date back to previous land-swap deals.
A PRI representative was not immediately available to say whether a new church is being planned for the area. A Park City spokesperson, meanwhile, said the city has been considering the land for a potential public works-type facility.
As for Summit County, Fisher said it’s up to the County Council to decide its priorities for the new building.
“All we've gotten to is the step of looking at what could be programmed there, what the desires are and then how much the desires cost,” Fisher said.
The county has said its facilities are overcrowded, especially the Justice Center. It bonded for around $19 million to pay for facilities projects that were identified in a 2017 plan, and is currently planning to spend about $13 million on this building. Roads and site work are projected to cost millions more. Those infrastructure costs will likely be shared among future developers at the site.
The $13 million figure only includes the law-enforcement related uses, and other potential uses are plentiful. Officials discussed using the building to house the Department of Motor Vehicles — currently in the Richins Building — and other administrative staff, including building inspectors.A list of potential uses, which is estimated to cost $17.7 million, also includes a childcare facility for county employees’ families.
The U.S. 40 corridor in that area is heavily contaminated with material leftover from Park City’s legacy mining industry. Fisher said the 125 acres are not included in the so-called “operating units” that federal environmental regulators have used to carve up that area.
Fisher said the plan would return to the council in coming weeks.
