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The wheels have come off Snowbird's plans to build a mountain coaster in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Salt Lake County's Board of Adjustment on Wednesday overruled the Planning Commission's decision to allow a gravity-driven coaster on the slope of Mount Superior, saying planners acted "illegally" in granting the project preliminary approval.
"The application should have been denied," board member Gary Sackett said.
Wednesday's ruling — formalizing a decision the Board of Adjustment made last month — puts the brakes on a proposed summertime attraction at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort, which would have allowed riders to zip through the woods from an old mine shaft on the Mount Superior hillside, over State Road 210 and into the resort village.
"The question is what will Snowbird do now," said canyon enthusiast Tom Stephens, who filed one of two appeals against the project. "No battle such as this is over. It is continuing. The threats to the Wasatch [Mountains] are endless."
Snowbird spokesman Jared Ishkanian declined to say Wednesday whether the resort will challenge the board's decision in court. The resort also could tweak its proposal and resubmit it to the Planning Commission.
"I don't think we completely know what the next step is," he said. "We are going to explore all our options and see if it makes sense to pursue what may be going to court for an appeal. And then we'll go from there. But to definitively say that we will being going down one avenue or another at this point would be incorrect."
The proposed mountain coaster would resemble an existing ride at Park City Mountain Resort, where riders weave in toboggan-type cars along a fixed-rail track. Snowbird officials have described the coaster as a critical component of its summertime business.
But the amusement ride has attracted the ire of canyon preservationists, who say the project doesn't belong in Little Cottonwood. They worry it would deface the slopes of Mount Superior, spoil a scenic byway (State Road 210) and lead to unwanted amusement parklike clamor in the canyon.
"This is a good moment for preservation and protection efforts in the Wasatch Mountains," Carl Fisher, executive director of Save Our Canyons, said after Wednesday's decision.
While Snowbird couldn't claim victory on the planning front, the resort was quick Wednesday to declare victory on the weather front. Snowbird received record-breaking snow this year and remains open for skiing until at least Memorial Day.
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