All,

As some of you may already be aware through the media or a prior post by Gary Peacock on Nextdoor (who is one of the leaders of Friends of Summit County), our mission to stop the Dakota Pacific project at Kimball Junction - or force Dakota Pacific to significantly revise it - took an extremely unfortunately turn on Thursday when the Utah state legislature passed House Bill 462. We must continue the fight. This 126 page bill was railroaded through the legislature, taking a mere 8 days to move out of committee and to a vote on March 3. As a result, Utah residents has very little time to react and respond. The complex piece of legislation, which is an attempt to address Utah's affordable housing issues, includes language that forces communities to rezone property and approve projects if the proposed project meets very minimal affordable housing thresholds. In effect, the state is attempting to strip Summit County (and other communities) of its right to stop the Dakota Pacific project. This is a blatant power-grab by the Utah state legislature, and it was almost certainly influenced by lobbying by Dakota Pacific. It would be a mistake for Friends of Summit County to lay out our playbook on social media, but we are working the issue from multiple angles, both legislative and legal, and will not give up the fight.

PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE GOVERNOR RIGHT NOW:

Please contact Governor Cox via phone at 801-538-1000 or via his official public comments form (https://servicecloudtrial-155c0807bf-158b6dc6793.force.com/governor/s/comments or with a message covering some or all of the following points in your own words:

I am a resident of Summit County and want to let you know I am opposed to House Bill 462, which was recently railroaded through the legislature in 8 days without appropriate consideration.

This legislation has four major flaws:

1. It strips local communities of their ability to make critical land use decisions, which flies in the face of core conservative principles.

2. It strips citizens of their ability to refer land use decisions to the voters, eliminating an important set of rights

3. It will result in the construction of a disastrous project right at the base of major Olympic venues in Kimball Junction, undermining how Utah presents itself to the world. Over 900 residents of Summit County attended a Summit County Council meeting on December 1 to oppose this project.

4. It is part of an ongoing trend of mismanagement of Utah's incredible recreational resources, which are a critical economic engine for the state.

We insist, in the strongest possible words, that the legislature amend this ill-conceived legislation in a special session this year.

******* More to come.