Spoil to Soil is a family-run composting operation in Summit County. Its Browns Canyon facility has been a preferred destination to divert yard waste and food scraps from the county’s space-constrained Three Mile Canyon landfill.
The Eastern Summit County Planning Commission unanimously revoked the facility’s permit from the property owners, Jared and Kristen Clayton of Sandy, Utah Aug. 21.
The Claytons’ attorney, Kyle Reeder, contacted the county the next day asking it not to enforce the revocation and arguing his clients weren’t given appropriate notice.
Senior planner Amir Caus told KPCW Aug. 26 the county had not yet shut down the facility. But he also says the attorney’s letter is not the same as a formal appeal, which would put the planning commission decision on pause.
Spoil to Soil owners Mike and Kylee Mimbach, who rent from the Claytons, told KPCW Aug. 26 they’re open for business.
Their company is central to the Park City Community Foundation’s Zero Food Waste initiative to divert all food scraps from the landfill by 2030.
The program collects uneaten food from curbside bins at homes and businesses, and PCCF Climate Fund Manager Andy Hecht estimates it’s sending 30 to 40 tons of material to Spoil to Soil per month. One of the advantages of Spoil to Soil is it collects products other composting facilities can’t, such as paper towels.
“There's a much wider stream of material that can go there, and then you keep the compost in the community,” Hecht told KPCW.
But the Summit County Planning Department says the facility has not been operating according to the terms of the two permits it was granted back in August 2024.
Caus presented commissioners with a host of photos and videos making the case to revoke permits Aug. 21.
“We have a conditional use permit for two uses where most of the conditions are not being met, where the site doesn't remotely look like what was approved,” the planner said.
Caus said the facilities are not laid out according to the county-approved site plan, which requires certain structures and operations to be located in certain areas of the property.
He said the property owners have yet to install a separate driveway for their nightly rental home that doesn’t conflict with the composting operation, as the permits required.
That nightly rental is the Browns Canyon Lodge, which a traveling nightclub business rented to throw a May 2024 party that ended in a shooting with two injured. Spoil to Soil was not involved with, nor was it present at, the party.
Separate from the composting permit at issue Aug. 21, Caus said the lodge was operating without a permit. He also said there is unpermitted soils processing occurring.
Jared Clayton disputed some of the allegations. For example, he said Caus’ video of an illegal burn was actually an accidental fire.
Clayton also claims they’ve been targeted by their neighbor, who has lodged numerous complaints against them since 2023. The initial round of complaints led to notices of violation that prompted Spoil to Soil to seek permits last summer.
“It would be interesting to see how many complaints have been filed in the last two years, since we've had this new property owner next to us,” he told the planning commission. “Who's a competitor, by the way, who stands to take all of our clients if you revoke this license.”
Luke Herzog, who is a landowner and operator at the neighboring business Renewable Soils, said his business doesn't see Spoil to Soil as a direct competitor because they’re permitted to do different sorts of work.
The Claytons and the Mimbachs maintain they’ve been able to address all previous notices of violation and did not receive one before the county scheduled its revocation hearing. That’s why their attorney says the Aug. 21 decision is unenforceable.
“Typically … notices of violation are for something small: ‘Hey do this, Joe.’ ‘We're going to take care of it,’” Caus countered. “This is so far beyond a notice of violation that we have to take this action.”
When it became clear the county could pull their permits, Jared Clayton said he removed Spoil to Soil as the operator of the facility and instead brought in Wind River Excavation of Bountiful, Utah.
“There was believed to be an agreement with the county that the operator would be removed. They would bring in Wind River, who has a history with the county of being a very good operator, and that the conditional use permits would be transferred,” Reeder, the Claytons' attorney, said.
But the property owners and county officials had heard conflicting things from Wind River about whether composting would continue on the property.
Clayton said they are already purchasing a new, state-of-the-art composting machine.
“I'm excited to resolve this in a positive way and build a great relationship with the county and create a better place to live for everyone through our composting,” Spoil to Soil’s Kylee Mimbach said.
The Community Foundation, which is one of their biggest customers, will continue to compost regardless.
Hecht said PCCF has a contract with Momentum Recycling to haul food waste to Spoil to Soil, and Momentum previously hauled it to a North Salt Lake facility called Wasatch Resource Recovery.
Hauling back to WRR, which turns compost into natural gas, is the Community Foundation’s plan B so its own customers don’t see an interruption in service.
“We work very closely with Summit County. We respect their decisions. We were going to honor anything that's out there,” Hecht said.
Spoil to Soil’s other customers include Park City School District and Park City Mountain. Before this year, it composted Christmas trees for Summit County.
In 2023, the county also considered launching a curbside yard waste pickup program in the Snyderville Basin with Spoil to Soil and Republic Services, but not enough residents signed up.
Summit County and the Park City Community Foundation are financial supporters of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
