Dean Sellers, a land developer who has spent much of his career building projects in Arizona, has put together an 8,366-acre parcel on the south side of U.S. 40 that he plans to incorporate as Aspen, Utah.
Like the famed Colorado resort community, Utah's Aspen would cater to people eager to build a second home, in this instance with majestic views of Mount Timpanogos. It also would hope to attract Utah County workers willing to make the daily commute through widened Provo Canyon.
"People will gravitate to something special," said Sellers during a meeting Monday with The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board. Noting that his parcel is only 45 minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport, he added, "This is an airport to Jackson Hole-type of views."
Sellers filed an incorporation petition on Thursday. He figures that process will be completed in 30 to 45 days, after which consultants from Park City-based Jack Johnson Co. will begin extensive planning and engineering studies to determine how best to develop the landscape into a mixed community of residential, commercial and recreational components.
He owns 5,700 acres within the proposed boundaries. The rest belongs to the state School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) and other private owners. Sellers said he is lining up "private partners" to help finance the development.
Steve Farrell, chairman of the Wasatch County Council, said Monday he did not know enough about the project to comment. Other state and county government officials were off Monday for Veterans Day.
"Until I see the petition he's filed, I'd rather not comment," Farrell said. "I'd like to learn more about it. There are a lot of questions about infrastructure."
Water is a paramount concern.
"Right now, I don't have that much water," Sellers acknowledged. "I need to go into the marketplace and purchase that."
He expressed confidence that he can, having hired respected water rights attorney Steve Clyde. Sellers said he also knows of 10-12 irrigation companies that store water in nearby Jordanelle Reservoir who could be persuaded to sell some or all of their shares.
Sellers projects that the community will have its own sewerage system, garbage collection and snow-removal services, as well as police and fire protection.
He said he had no influence on the Legislature's approval of a bill last session that allows incorporations to take place without county approval.
"I was in the right place at the right time," Sellers said, particularly given that the incorporation law would enable him to appoint the town council for the city's first two years of existence.
"The incorporation law allows somebody who has done this [developed projects] for 35 years to create a community that would have all the advantages any families or single persons would want," he said. "I can control my own destiny in the first two years. That's the big advantage."
A statement released by the developer claims that the community would have "world-class skiing equivalent to Deer Valley." Brad Johnson, project manager for Jack Johnson Co., said the area's slopes seem suitable for ski runs and face the right directions, but added that snowfall totals still must be surveyed.
Johnson said the terrain is fit for cross-country skiing, equestrian and bicycle trails. His studies will look at the area's suitability for golf courses, tennis and a youth educational center among a potential mix of single-family dwellings, hotels, offices, retail and other commercial development along a four-mile stretch of frontage.
Sellers said he also dreams of creating an elk refuge. "I'll be doing things the U.S. Forest Service doesn't do," he maintained.
mikeg@sltrib.com
