The Summit County Council forced Spoil to Soil to suspend composting operations at its meeting Oct. 15.
County staff accused the Browns Canyon facility of 27 permit-related violations. Spoil to Soil now must address the alleged issues before it can reopen.
“This may seem harsh,” Councilmember Roger Armstrong said after reviewing the information. “I've never seen [conditional use permit] violations this rampant, consistent… This is as bad as it gets, as I’ve seen in 13 years.”
Six of the citations were for allowing non-compostable material at the site. Spoil to Soil has 60 days to remove the unauthorized material.
It has six months to address 20 other allegations. It must also widen a portion of Lower Bowl Road between May and July of next year.
The council asked staff to report any further violations, at which point it would take “immediate action” such as revoking Spoil to Soil’s permits altogether.
Attorney Kyle Reeder, who represents the landowner where Spoil to Soil operates, said the landowner and operator’s intention is to comply with the various notices of violation.
The operators will be allowed to do work necessary to fix the alleged violations, and nothing else, until permits are back in place.
The council’s decision to suspend the composter's permits is the culmination of more than a year of code enforcement.
Spoil to Soil applied for and received the permits in 2024 after a neighboring property complained. When more complaints came in, staff started documenting alleged violations and presented them to the council this year.
Those included accepting nonpermitted materials like snow, plastic and metal; processing soils; operating after hours; laying out the site incorrectly; and failing to submit required paperwork.
Spoil to Soil used to receive food waste from Park City-area residents, schools and resort properties. Some of that material is now being diverted to Wasatch Resource Recovery, a composting facility in North Salt Lake.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
