The land includes about 3,500 acres owned by the Christensen family and 720 acres held by the Utah Trust Lands Administration. The two properties will be developed together.
The Heber City and Wasatch County councils signed a joint agreement this spring for the land to remain in the county for low-density development. But at a meeting Thursday, June 12, councilmembers from the two entities had different ideas about what the properties should look like.
County manager Dustin Grabau told the group the Trust Lands Administration appears to want to construct around 900 residential units on the land.
“We discussed the request from the developer to basically set a sandbox, set a number of how many units they can play with, so they can start to do the serious work that goes into designing the development,” he said. “And the number that came back to the whole county council was 894 units.”
One possibility is that the homes will be clustered in certain areas of the land, while the rest could become dedicated open space.
Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco raised utilities concerns, saying the number of units might require improvements to the county’s electricity and sewer infrastructure.
City Councilmember Scott Phillips wanted the county’s assurance that public access would be part of any development agreement.
“If they’re saying, ‘We can do 500 units,’ but there’s not going to be any public use, I’m not for that; we’re not for that,” he said. “Jordanelle Ridge has built more trails than the state parks in Wasatch County, so these developments are important for outdoor recreation.”
Phillips also said it would be beneficial to the rest of the community if the Wasatch Highlands development included a small general store or grocery store. He said it would help reduce traffic associated with the new homes.
“It makes sense to have people shop where they live,” he said. “We don’t need everybody coming down into Heber City to buy the necessities.”
Not everyone on the county council agreed that commercial spaces or public amenities should be part of the development.
Wasatch County Councilmember Spencer Park pointed out only a few dozen units would be allowed under the current zoning, so even allowing several hundred homes would be a major increase. He said the infrastructure developers would build might be enough of a “public benefit” to be worth the county’s while.
“Maybe we are willing to go to the 500 [units], but we’re not willing to go to the 900. You know, we’re going 20 times their density right now. There’s public infrastructure. We don’t have to go to 900, 890-something to get their benefit or the public access.”
Phillips pushed back, arguing it’s to the community’s benefit to build more units in response to the high demand for housing.
“When you have five, six, seven kids on average per family, you’re going to have growth,” he said. “We have this great piece of property. We could put some homes there for people to live in.”
County leaders, meanwhile, said building more homes won’t automatically solve the housing problem or lower people’s property taxes.
County Councilmember Erik Rowland said the county wants to land somewhere between 300 and 900 units.
“Once we get to that number, if it moves forward, then we’re going to start talking about the specifics,” he said.
Leaders did not make specific decisions, and plans for the land are still in their infancy.
Thursday’s meeting was scheduled after county councilmembers said in February they wanted to prioritize more interlocal meetings.
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