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Former Park City planner joins county planning commission, two others reappointed

Makena Hawley was one of seven applicants for three vacant spots on the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission who interviewed with the Summit County Council Wednesday.
Connor Thomas
/
KPCW
Makena Hawley was one of seven applicants for three vacant spots on the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission who interviewed with the Summit County Council Wednesday.

It may be one of the toughest volunteer spots in Summit County: the Snyderville Planning Commission.

Wednesday, the Summit County Council reappointed Thomas Cooke and Bruce Carmichael to their third terms. Former Park City planner Makena Hawley will take over Commissioner Joel Fine’s seat.

The commission is the county government body that gets the first look at things like development applications, requests for zoning changes and other planning matters. The commission forwards a recommendation to the county council, which is the body that officially yeas or nays planning decisions.

Like in the case of Dakota Pacific: the planning commission forwarded a negative recommendation to the county council on their plan back in 2020, which after three years of hot debate led to the county’s lawsuit against the developer in March.

Fine and Cooke were among those who gave the project a thumbs down. Carmichael wasn’t on the planning commission at the time. He filled in when Canice Harte was elected to the county council last year.

Terms last three years and commissioners can only serve three terms.

Now reappointed to their final term, Carmichael and Cooke rejoin fellow commissioners Chris Conabee, D.J. Hubler, Tyann Mooney and Chair John Kucera. Carmichael is currently co-chair.

This will be Hawley’s first term.

She’s a project manager for the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency, a city organization facilitating beneficial development there—principally affordable housing—and a Summit County resident.

Hawley said working on the development side of things is a good counterbalance to regulatory work. It gives her an idea of where developers can do more to solve problems.

“I also know where I can push more,” Hawley said. “Know where I can realistically say, ‘No, our community is asking for affordable housing; 60% of our workers are coming into Summit County. We need people to live here. We need more affordable housing, and here's how far I'm gonna push you [as a developer].’”

However, she admitted her hopes for significant change are not that high, after Harte noted that the role is more administrative than legislative.

“One of the most important things I consider with development is incremental change,” Hawley said.

When it comes to trends she thinks need to change, Hawley specifically mentioned the repetitious housing developments in the Wasatch Back that tether residents to their cars.

“I feel like we're pushing the nature, that we all moved here for, farther away from us,” she said.

Hawley earned a bachelor’s in urban planning at Arizona State University in 2010.

After that she worked as a city planner in Park City for about three years, before leaving for Aalborg University in Denmark, where she earned a master’s degree in the sustainable cities program.

She replaces Joel Fine, who served for two terms and six years.