For decades, planning in Utah, especially the Salt Lake Valley, has been a mess.  Cities have planned and approved in competition with each other, attempting to win the most lucrative developments.  Infrastructure has always come second to development and no real form of large scale planning has taken place.  Until now.

With 30,000 to 40,000 thousand acres of developable land left in the west and southwest valley, we have a chance to get it right.  For the first time ever, six cities in the southwest valley, along with the county, are working together in cooperation to plan the right way.  The Southwest Visioning study is a never before seen project being performed by independent, unbiased researchers and experts designed to plan and develop the remaining region in a sustainable, responsible way.

However, our chance to get this right is in jeopardy.  With the revised Olympia Hills proposal having been resubmitted, not much has changed.  Olympia Hills is a great idea from a master-planned community standpoint, but the numbers still don’t make sense.  The density of units is proposed at more than double the current gross density of Daybreak.  The plan for traffic mitigation is very poor and the transparency on the studies is still extremely lacking.  It’s also clear that certain county leaders made their decision long ago and don’t seem to care about our opinion, tax dollars, or quality of life.  So much so, that they are willing to ignore the $250,000 of our money (including $100,000 of county money) and the massive study, even though their words in the past have talked about the importance of regional planning and sustainability.  Planning should not be a square peg in a round hole! Our leaders should not decide what they want and then force it to work after the fact regardless of whether or not it makes sense.  Planning should be about what is sustainable and responsible.

Among our ten county officials, only one lives within a reasonable distance of the area in question.  These are major decisions that affect hundreds of thousands of people within the local municipalities. They need to acknowledge the study they have helped pay for and involve the cities that will actually be affected by this decision.  If our County Council truly represents us, they will vote no to the current Olympia Hills proposal and wait until this massive study is complete before any major development approvals are made.  I believe that most of our County Council cares about us and wants to do what’s best, but we still need to make our voices heard and demand that the county plans and develops our area the right way.  They all talk about long term planning, long term growth, and the need to get it right.  Let’s make sure they honor their words with this decision.  We need to demand they vote no on the current Olympia Hills proposal.  

Please sign the petition, reach out to our County Council members, and attend one of the public meetings.

Public Hearings:

January 14, 2020 @ 6 p.m.

County Government Center North Building, N1100

2001 S. State St., Salt Lake City

January 28, 2020 @ 6 p.m.

County Government Center North Building, N1100

2001 S. State St., Salt Lake City