A parade of architects and developers spoke at the most recent Summit County Council meeting, telling councilmembers what they like to see in a request for proposals, or RFP.
The county wants to develop part of 30 acres it owns next to Jeremy Ranch Elementary School, and an RFP is how it will communicate what it wants and then choose a developer.
As Columbus Pacific Development partner Tony Tyler explained, projects are more likely to reach the finish line if the things that require a vote are taken care of ahead of time.
“Another way to say that is outside of the creative design and the programming, which should be a collaborative process, there are no other discretionary approvals that are required, like a rezone,” Tyler said at the Nov. 13 meeting. He built employee housing in and other parts of Canyons Village.
Or in other words: the people putting in time and money to respond to the county’s RFP want to avoid a “no” vote at the end of the process.
That’s the issue looming over Dakota Pacific Real Estate, whose application to develop land nearby in Kimball Junction has taken five years to process — although the firm may have enough backing elsewhere in the state to override a “no.”
Read more: Dakota Pacific responds to critics as vote on Kimball Junction development nears
Developers are also wary after what happened with Park City’s Mine Bench property, which is on Marsac Avenue near Ontario Mine.
“Where a selected developer had spent a lot of time, expertise, capacity and money just to have their partner say, ‘Yeah, sorry, we're done,” Tyler said, adding that the government should compensate developers for sunken costs if it backs out at the eleventh hour.
Mountainlands Community Housing Trust Executive Director Jason Glidden agreed. He told the county that when he was Park City’s economic development project manager developers consistently asked for less risk.
“I think that if this is going to be a partnership — a public-private partnership — then the county should be willing to come in and make a financial guarantee at some point,” he said Nov. 13.
Glidden pointed to the success of EngineHouse, a mostly affordable development going up in the Bonanza Park area of Park City. The city approved EngineHouse’s zoning and density before it picked a developer, but the Mine Bench property required a rezone.
Read more: New Park City affordable housing project on pace for summer 2025 opening
It’s true that reducing risk for the private sector helps financing and could yield a better project. Interest rates have been higher since 2022.
On the other hand, rezoning after picking a developer gives the municipality more control over what happens, even if what happens is nothing.
The land next to Jeremy Ranch Elementary School, dubbed the Cline Dahle property for its previous owner, is zoned rural residential. That means one residential unit per 20 acres, and no businesses without additional review.
The county council has said it wants more of both, including as many as 210 rent-capped housing units. It also wants a new fire station and some green space.
Looking at the draft RFP, the developers were split on whether that many units makes sense on 15 acres. One called it an “mostly aesthetic” decision.
