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Dakota Pacific seeks to incorporate town in Kimball Junction

Traffic is one of the top reasons some Snyderville Basin residents have opposed adding housing at the Park City Tech Center. Landowner Dakota Pacific Real Estate contends that its development could help, bringing commuters closer to workplaces and putting Kimball Junction on UDOT's to-do list.
Parker Malatesta
/
KPCW
Traffic is one of the top reasons some Snyderville Basin residents have opposed adding housing at the Park City Tech Center. Landowner Dakota Pacific Real Estate contends that its development could help, bringing commuters closer to workplaces and putting Kimball Junction on UDOT's to-do list.

It may circumvent Summit County residents' efforts to hold a referendum on the controversial development approved last month.

The petition filed Jan. 8 with Utah’s Office of the Lt. Governor seeks to turn the Salt Lake City-based developer’s roughly 50 acres of Kimball Junction land into a town.

It’s the site where the Summit County Council voted to allow more than 800 units of housing, about a half of those reserved for low- and medium-income earners.

The town would not include separate parcels where Summit County hoped to partner with Dakota Pacific on civic buildings, an expanded transit center, green space, a portion of the affordable housing and a pedestrian bridge. The county claims the public-private partnership is worth millions of dollars in revenue.

For reference, Skullcandy is the yellow box closest to the Landmark Drive and Olympic Parkway roundabout. Included inside the blue box, or partnership area, is new senior care or housing, 165 affordable housing units, a new library and park, expanded transit center and mixed-use plaza on top of underground parking. The plaza would be connected to eastern Kimball Junction via a pedestrian bridge.
Dakota Pacific Real Estate
For reference, Skullcandy is the yellow box closest to the Landmark Drive and Olympic Parkway roundabout. Included inside the blue box, or partnership area, is new senior care or housing, 165 affordable housing units, a new library and park, expanded transit center and mixed-use plaza on top of underground parking. The plaza would be connected to eastern Kimball Junction via a pedestrian bridge.

The county council approved the housing and public-private partnership in a 4-1 vote Dec. 18 after years of negotiations.

Five days later, seven county residents pushed back with a petition for a referendum on the decision. Organizers must now garner almost 5,000 signatures to put the controversial development to a countywide vote in 2025.

The top concern existing residents shared at public hearings has been traffic. They want it addressed before building any additional housing in Kimball Junction.

But the effort to block development might be circumvented by incorporation. Dakota Pacific says it isn’t changing its project from what the Summit County Council approved in December.

“We are committed to delivering the project as approved by county council in December. To that end, we will explore all opportunities provided to landowners,” Dakota Pacific Director of Commercial Development Steve Borup told KPCW in a statement. “Our sincere hope is that we can proceed under the approved amended development agreement and become a catalyst to delivering the traffic solutions that are contractually required by it.”

Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said the county was not immediately able to comment.

Dakota Pacific has tied its construction timeline to the Utah Department of Transportation’s plans for addressing traffic in the area.

Dakota Pacific submitted site plans as part of its request that the lt. governor's office determine whether its land could feasibly be a town. Nearly half the housing would be affordable, and some would be for seniors.
Utah Office of the Lt. Governor
Dakota Pacific submitted site plans as part of its request that the lt. governor's office determine whether its land could feasibly be a town. Nearly half the housing would be affordable, and some would be for seniors.

Its petition triggers the process of creating a “preliminary municipality” in Kimball Junction, which is an unincorporated part of Summit County.

Click here to read the filing with the lieutenant governor's office.

That would create a town under a new state law that has allowed developers to pursue incorporation over the past year.

The law gives preliminary municipalities nearly all the powers and duties existing cities and towns have, and it explicitly lets them determine their own zoning.

The next step is for the lieutenant governor’s office to make sure Dakota Pacific’s preliminary municipality is feasible — basically that it could raise enough taxes to provide services.

If deemed feasible, the area is governed by a four-member board and a board chair — essentially a preliminary mayor — until it becomes a town.

Summit County gets to appoint one board member, and Dakota Pacific would appoint the rest. No board members need to live in the proposed town boundaries.

Construction can get underway once the board is in place.

State legislators introduced the law allowing preliminary municipalities during the 2024 General Session.

The Times-Independent reports they appeared to pass it to facilitate Kane Creek, a luxury development proposed outside of Moab across the Colorado River from the famed Wall Street climbing area.

Since then, a developer has also applied to create a city between the Snowbasin and Wasatch Peaks Ranch ski resorts, in Morgan County.

Dakota Pacific’s preliminary municipality, and another proposed outside of Kanab, are the third and fourth proposed since the law allowing them passed.

Updated: January 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM MST
Summit County Manager Shayne Scott initially said the vote would happen during the next general election in 2026. The Summit County Clerk's Office clarified the vote would be Nov. 4, 2025.
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