A Great Discussion That Reminds Us To Start Paying Attention

Every once in awhile there will be a 30 second exchange between people that everyone should hear. This morning it happened on KPCW. Summit County Community Development Director Pat Putt was interviewed by KPCW’s Leslie Thatcher about different developments happening around the Snyderville Basin. One of those developments discussed was the Silver Creek Village, near Home Depot. The conversation was:

Leslie Thatcher: A heads up…this community [Silver Creek Village by Home Depot] is basically as large with the number of units as the municipality of Park City.

Pat Putt: 1300 residential units and 50,000 square feet of neighborhood commercial. It’s likely that 20 years from now, if you want to put a balance point of the epicenter of where a lot of the real Parkites will be living, it will be in that quadrant of our community for sure.

Leslie Thatcher: And they’ll be in the South Summit School District.

Pat Putt: Yes.

So, why do you care? If Mr Putt is correct (and he probably is) it’s time to start paying attention to that area and envisioning what we as a community want the area east of Highway 40 to look like in 20 years. While there have been “concerns” about what the area will become, it is beginning to be fleshed out. Near Quinn’s Junction, the area is starting to house small retail and office space (the Park City Gun Club, 43 Racing, etc.). Near I-80, the area will have Silver Creek Village (described above). There is also a proposal to put a development with mixed residential and commercial on the south side of Home Depot (Pace Meadows). As the area between Home Depot and Quinn’s converges, and the EPA figures out how to deal with environmental cleanup efforts, there will be more pressure on Summit County to allow growth to occur along Highway 40 between I-80 and Quinn’s Junction.

It doesn’t take too much of leap of faith to imagine a large “L” of commercial activity that starts at Silver Creek Village, extends to Quinn’s Junction, turns and heads toward the movie studio and extends into town along Highway 248.

You may be “for” this growth. If so, you’ll likely want to make sure it is done right, with transportation and design done appropriately. You may be “against” this growth and hope the area east of Highway 40 stays open space. In that case you should likely fight projects beyond what are already entitled (i.e. the Pace Meadows Project).

Either way, changes are coming, and if Mr Putt is right, those changes are going to be huge. The actions we undertake now will like impact the future of the Snyderville Basin.