A compromise is moving forward that could allow Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort to build a mountain coaster this summer without opening the door to widespread development in Salt Lake County’s canyons.
The compromise involves revisions to the county’s Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone ordinance, whose weaknesses became clear last when the county’s Board of Adjustment overturned a Planning Commission approval of Snowbird’s plans for a coaster on the lower face of Mount Superior, north of Little Cottonwood Canyon road.
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Because two county boards had conflicting interpretations of the ordinance, the District Attorney’s Office advised county planners to update the document, particularly to reflect the fact ski resorts now have year-round activities.
The first effort to do so resulted in dozens of conservationists packing the council chambers last month, objecting that the revisions softened protections for the canyons’ natural resources, a contention shared by Laura Briefer, special projects manager for Salt Lake City’s Department of Public Utilities, which oversees watershed protection in the central Wasatch Mountains.
Consequently, County Planning Director Rolen Yoshinaga sat down with city water officials and resort representatives and came up with a compromise designed to do two things: recognize formally that ski resorts have summer activities, clearing the way for Snowbird and other resorts to proceed with some of their plans, while maintaining environmental protections that will forestall major development proposals until the county finishes a more thorough examination of the ordinance. That review is scheduled to begin this spring.
Although Councilman Arlyn Bradshaw floated a third version of the ordinance, most comments at a council work session Tuesday pointed to the compromise plan as the best approach for moving forward. Council members asked planners to come back Feb. 28 with proposed language for a revised ordinance.
Jennifer Kecor, issues coordinator for Save Our Canyons, said the compromise was more restrictive than the previously proposed revision, but hoped the Feb. 28 version puts tight reins on waivers that allow construction on steeper slopes. The ordinance should not include waivers, Briefer added, calling the compromise an approach worth pursuing.
Snowbird executive Dave Fields said the compromise addresses his resort’s desire to clarify that its existing summer uses, from mountain-bike riding to the Tour of Utah bicycle race, are legal operations. It also would allow Snowbird to proceed with plans for a mountain coaster, but within the resort’s existing operation south of Little Cottonwood Canyon road.
"We have a good spot next to Peruvian chairlift," he said, hoping that that location would assuage opponents "who made their voices heard" about the undesirability of a coaster on Mount Superior.
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