In March, the state Legislature required Summit County to pave the way for dense residential development at Kimball Junction by the end of the year.
The legislation doesn’t specifically say the county has to approve the application from developer Dakota Pacific Real Estate for 1,100 residences at the Junction, but to Councilor Glenn Wright, the message was clear.
“The effort for Dakota Pacific to basically muscle this through us and intimidate us, it just upsets me greatly," Wright said. "I think it brings into question, if the development was there that they proposed, how we would deal with them in the future.”
After the legislation passed, Wright, a former proponent of the project, said he wouldn't participate in a vote on Dakota Pacific’s proposal. Speaking to KPCW Thursday, he went further.
“If it’s (on an) agenda for decision, I will not be at that council meeting," Wright said. "And I would hope that at least two of my other council members would take the same position so that we won't have a quorum.”
If there isn’t a quorum at a council meeting, no vote can occur. Other legislative bodies have adopted similar strategies. This summer, for example, Democratic state legislators in Texas walked out of their Legislature to avoid voting on a bill about election regulations.
To Wright, it’s up to Dakota Pacific to set things right. But he said the developer’s legislative strategy has already soured its relationship with the county.
“They need to fix it. They took the initiative to jam this through the Legislature. And if they can do that, they can undo it," he said. "It takes (a) one-word edit in one of the sentences from ‘shall’ to ‘may’ and then we're all back on the same page."
Dakota Pacific paused the Tech Center application late last year, saying it would return with a project that aligns more with what the community wants.
