Park representatives and developers resumed talks about the Utah Olympic Park’s development agreement with the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission Nov. 25.
The UOP is looking to change the agreement to facilitate a hotel near its freestyle training pool and to finance development before the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Other changes defining the scope and location of potential housing have concerned nearby residents.
So at the meeting, the UOP announced it is no longer asking to change the alignment of 10 homes near the top of the Nordic lift and ski jumps. The park now proposes reducing maximum height for those homes from 50 feet to 35 feet.
The UOP is still looking for additional height for the hotel. Its main reason for amending its development agreement is to make the park financially self-sufficient.
But residents like Meta Haley expressed frustration with the planning process.
“I think I stand here kind of losing a little bit of faith in this process and hoping for some clarity from you guys,” she said at the planning commission’s Nov. 25 public hearing. “We raised specific, documented inconsistencies prior to tonight, yet looking at the staff report and listening to discussion this evening, it feels as though those facts were not addressed.”
There have been two previous planning commission meetings with the UOP. When residents raised concerns about the density and location of potential development, the park scheduled two open houses to explain its plans.
During the Nov. 25 public hearing, former planning commissioner Thomas Cooke attested that Utah Olympic Park leaders run the business with America’s athletes in mind.
“You can agree or disagree with me, but assume good intent with the people that are running this organization because they have a long track record of thinking in the best interest for the long term,” he said.
Commissioner Matt Nagie answered questions about the planning process after public input.
“When the public comes forward and they talk about the things that they care about, sometimes, that's the process,” Nagie said. “And so when we talk about, how can this project move forward, how can the planning commission make one decision — I want to take a second to step back and, I guess, celebrate what this process is doing, actively, tonight.”
The commission delayed its decision to absorb all the public feedback and additional information from the Utah Olympic Park.
It’s tasked with making a positive or negative recommendation to the Summit County Council, which has the final say.
Whatever happens, the UOP is still allowed to build housing near its upper gate. Community Development Director Peter Barnes noted the park would need only to subdivide its land up there.
That prospect has fueled residents’ concerns about encroaching on wildlife habitat and views, and about traffic through the back gate on Bear Hollow Drive.
According to county attorney Lynda Viti, the county council, not the planning commission, is in charge of opening or closing roads to traffic.
Summit County and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation are financial supporters of KPCW.
