Change is rumbling into Wasatch County, although an economic downturn and troubles in the mortgage industry may give planners a bit of breathing room. Still, countywide, about 10,000 new residential units have been approved and more are in the pipeline.

The refrain, "We don't want to be another Park City," isn't rare in public meetings throughout Wasatch County. But from at least one perspective, it looks to be on a track similar to Summit County's Snyderville Basin.

"Unfortunately, I think we're on our way to being there," said Daniel Town Mayor Mike Duggin. "That horse is pretty well out of the barn."

In the 1970s and '80s, Summit County officials - hungry for growth - doled out building approvals to eager applicants. But there was little building until the '90s when economic conditions grew ripe for a boom.

Suddenly, west Summit County mushroomed into a sea of rooftops with a burgeoning commercial center generating snarled waves of automobile traffic.

Can Wasatch County learn from Summit County's mistakes?

Planners throughout Heber Valley are putting their heads together to "avoid the pitfalls" of rapid development, said Al Mickelsen, Wasatch County planning director. But the challenges are plenty as traditional farming families sell to developers.

Alfalfa fields sprout housing developments as open space vanishes.

"We're fooling ourselves if we say things aren't going to change," Mickelsen said, "But if we do it right, we can preserve the important elements of this area for future generations."

The Heber Valley is known for its verdant pasturelands set off by spectacular mountains.

Wasatch Mountain State Park, along the valley's western foothills, provides a lot of open area. Heber Valley planners have, through development agreements, protected significant swaths of foothill open space on the north and east slopes.

Key to preserving the ambience is protecting the bottomlands along both sides of State Route 113 that connects Heber City to Midway. Those privately owned pastures, known as the North and South Fields, are what residents most want preserved, according to County Councilman Steve Farrell.

The county has adopted a plan that allows developers increased building densities in exchange for open space. It also considers conservation easements that permanently would set aside farmlands that could be partially funded through the federal Farm Bill.

But unlike Park City and Snyderville Basin taxpayers who have purchased tens of millions of dollars of open space, Wasatch County has not pushed general-obligation bonds to buy farmlands.

"We're talking about it," Farrell said. "But we're conscious of the tax burden it creates, especially for families on fixed incomes."

Certainly, taxes are on the mind of Midway Mayor Connie Tatton.

Her once-bucolic farming town is morphing into a resort venue and vacation-home community. Growth is straining the little municipality's ability to keep up with basic services.

"We're eating up land for second homes," she said. "And we're being forced to raise property taxes."

As for Heber City, the need for taxes is overriding the desire to preserve small-town ambiance.

For example, commercial construction is beginning to catch up to residential development, said City Manager Mark Anderson. Commercial property taxes and the sales taxes those businesses generate will help hold down residential property taxes.

"We've made hard decisions that weren't popular," he said of the approval of the big-box Boyer project that includes Wal-Mart. "But we're enhancing our commercial district and providing more housing opportunities."

csmart@sltrib.com