Summit County is following a process laid out in a 2025 state law passed specifically to greenlight a mixed-use project in western Kimball Junction.
County Manager Shayne Scott approved the development agreement the afternoon of July 28 and signed it with representatives from Dakota Pacific Real Estate and High Valley Transit minutes later.
It allows 885 total housing units, about half of them for workforce, as well as an expanded transit center, park-and-ride and businesses around the Skullcandy building, which Summit County will repurpose to replace its existing library and offices.
A handful of people spoke at the public hearing in Coalville July 28, all of them about public opposition to the project.
“I will rue the day I see the first tractor go in there,” resident Kathy Mears said. “And I'm sorry that legislative action has put the county and the county council into this position.”
There’s a 10-day protest period for residents to appeal Scott’s decision to the Summit County Council.
The development agreement Scott approved closely resembles one the council approved in December.
The council’s decision is now at the center of a legal dispute over a rejected referendum petition signed by thousands of residents who sought a countywide vote on the project.
A 3rd District Court hearing to determine whether the Summit County clerk was wrong to toss out about half the referendum’s signatures is set for Aug. 19.
Under the new state law Scott’s approval can’t be challenged by a referendum. But referendum supporters have said they want to challenge the law’s constitutionality.
Although the new development agreement is now in place, shovels won’t be in the ground immediately.
The agreement triggers a 180-day countdown for Summit County, High Valley Transit and Dakota Pacific to negotiate the specifics of a public-private partnership. The company’s contribution to that half of the development is capped at $3.7 million.
Dakota Pacific CEO Marc Stanworth said after the July 28 hearing he’s excited to be moving forward. The firm originally applied for the project in 2019 after the county council adopted the Kimball Junction Neighborhood Plan into the wider Snyderville Basin General Plan document.
“Notwithstanding the project changing significantly over the last five years — certainly from an economic impact perspective, not necessarily in our favor — I think we've arrived at a very good project that is going to be a hallmark for the community and for the years to come,” Stanworth said.
During his decision, Scott said he’s still “hopeful” to see residents benefit from the development in the future.
“I think if there's anything that's living up to the Kimball Junction Neighborhood Plan that was adopted by the council several years ago — if there's something that lives up to that — it's this,” the county manager said.
Still, resident Ed Rutan asked Scott to acknowledge the public opposition while explaining why he decided to approve the project July 28.
Scott told a story about growing up in St. George, leaving, and then returning to see development where his dirt bike trails used to be.
“It's not the same place it was in 1988 when I was in high school,” he said. “And that makes me sad, honestly. And I think some people might feel that way about Park City, especially those that have been here a long time.”
Another resident, Robert Phillps, asked Scott to resign over what he characterized as a “shady” process involving backroom deals.
“I am old enough to recall Elliot Richardson, the United States Attorney General during Watergate, who resigned instead of firing the special prosecutor as directed by President Nixon, because it was the right thing to do rather than break his promise to the public,” he said. “I would respectfully ask that you consider resigning your office rather than approve this unwanted, unethical and immoral project.”
Scott didn’t think the state law passed earlier in 2025 gave him much choice.
Legislators previously asked Summit County and Dakota Pacific to come to an agreement after the county sued over a 2023 state law also aimed at facilitating the development.
That lawsuit was put on pause, and in signing the development agreement July 28, the parties agreed to end it.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
