The county announced it had the exclusive option to purchase the Ure property last spring. Since then, it’s applied for grant money and has raised nearly half of the $25 million needed to close the deal.
Before it takes over the property and any final decisions are made, Summit County is hosting open houses to get public input.
The first open house was Jan. 22. The second will be the night of Feb. 29.
The first open house was informal; residents brainstormed ideas on sticky notes and spoke with officials.
The next open house will start with a county presentation and close with an “engagement activity.”
The presentation includes a summary of public comments collected to date and then will explain more about conservation easements. After that locals can talk with leaders and others 1-on-1.
Speaking at the Summit County Council meeting two weeks ago, Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby said residents were curious about a conservation easement on the ranch.
“We do want to dive into that in our second open house and make sure that there's a clear understanding of what kind of allowances are going to happen under the conservation easements that we'll put on the property, and what can't happen,” she said.
The Summit Land Conservancy is purchasing a conservation easement for the 185 acres north of state Route 248.
Kirby wants to stress easements are held on the property forever, or at least as long as the legal system that would enforce them exists.
“You're basically stripping development rights off of the property and that's the conservation value,” Kirby said. “There's other conservation values, like tying the water to the land; you can do that in a conservation easement.”
Not selling the land’s water rights was identified as a top community priority after the first open house. Kirby said the main comment the county’s heard so far is the ranch should be kept open but not fallow.
Trails and recreation opportunities would be "welcomed," according to Kirby's presentation.
Housing was polarizing, but county officials are hearing a small amount of community housing may be "acceptable" only if it's located in the right place.
The open house Thursday, Feb. 29, starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Kamas library. There isn’t an online option to attend, but there are plenty of ways to learn more:
- Sign up for a Ure Ranch newsletter here: summitcounty.info/ureranchnews
- Learn more about the property here: summitcounty.info/ureranch
- Submit comments about the property online here: summitcounty.info/urepubliccomment
