Tied to prison move, lawmakers want to study high-tech needs from Draper to Lehi

Key Utah lawmakers are pushing for a new study focused on how best to attract high-tech jobs to the area stretching from Draper to Lehi, a move spurred by the state's decision to move the prison to west of the Salt Lake City International Airport.

A House committee signed off on legislation Tuesday that would create a commission to develop a master plan for the 20,000-acre area by the beginning of December. This group would have $800,000 to hire a group, such as Envision Utah, to lead the process and another consultant to figure out how to pay for potentially billions of dollars in new roads, rails, trails and public utilities.

Then the "Point of the Mountain Development Commission" would come back to the Legislature with recommendations, and each city could sign on or abandon the effort.

"You can't believe, at times, how much growth is there and how much strain it is putting on the infrastructure," said Rep. Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, who led the group that recommended moving the Draper prison and is now sponsoring this legislation. "That rapid growth needs to be managed, and it needs to be managed well."

Wilson's HB318 faced limited opposition, passing by a 5-2 vote. Rep. Mark Wheatley, D-Murray, said he would vote against the bill until an amendment was added to ensure that this group wouldn't take control of a city's taxing authority.

For Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, her opposition was more visceral, tied to west-siders' frustration that the prison is now moving to their area.

"There is still a lot of hurt on my side of town," she said.

Planning for a new prison is underway. At this time, a new complex isn't expected to house inmates until 2020.

Wilson noted that his measure isn't trying to determine the process for developing the 680 acres of prison land now in Draper. That would take place at another time. This would be an effort to coordinate the Point of the Mountain area, which splits Salt Lake and Utah counties and a half dozen cities.

The 12-member commission would be comprised of four state lawmakers; the mayors of Lehi and Draper, along with another mayor from a city in Salt Lake County and one from a city in Utah County; the mayor of Salt Lake County and a member of the Utah County Commission; a representative from the Governor's Office of Economic Development; and a representative from a tech company.

The bill now goes to the full House.