The eastern Summit County general plan is about a dozen pages, compared to the Snyderville Basin’s 85-page document.
Community Development Director Peter Barnes, Summit County’s top planning official, said the eastside plan covers a much larger area than the Basin, too.
“In any event, both plans are probably going to need more work than was originally thought, and that's really to drag them kicking and screaming into the modern world,” he told KPCW.
It’s been about a decade since either plan was revised.
Since then, development proposals for eastern Summit County have multiplied. Landowners west of Kamas filed to incorporate an entirely new town last year, and there’s a town-sized development application in Hoytsville, for example.
The two advisory committees formed earlier this year, so residents can help revise their area’s plan.
Deputy Summit County Manager Janna Young told the Summit County Council last month that work on the east side began quickly and early because of the need to lengthen the document.
“A lot of really great work is happening so far on this and certainly much more to occur,” she said June 26. “I think in general, they're planning for this to wrap up sometime next year.”
State law requires general plans to touch on land use, transportation, traffic, moderate-income housing, resource management and water use.
Plans may also provide guidance on environmental issues, municipal services, economic development and more.
Currently, the eastside general plan complies with but doesn’t go beyond what the state requires. County officials see a need to go further than that, because with the Snyderville Basin mostly built-out, development pressure is already spilling over to the east.
