Mayors from southwest Salt Lake County make their case against the Olympia Hills development

FILE - Land between 6300 West and 8500 West and 12400 South and 13100 South in unincorporated Salt Lake County, foreground, that is proposed for the Olympia Hills development on Monday, March 11, 2019. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Speaking to the Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs made it clear he wasn’t opposed to development in his city.

“We are the poster children of growth, if you will, in this county,” he said.

However, Staggs was one of three mayors from southwestern Salt Lake County to make their case against the controversial Olympia Hills development proposal. Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Jared Henderson of Herriman, and Derk Timothy of Bluffdale, also spoke at the meeting.

After their initial idea was vetoed by former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, developers submitted a revised proposal for the Daybreak-like community in July that would bring 6,330 units to roughly 933 acres in Herriman. With an expected completion date sometime in the next 30 years, the development plans boast contemporary housing, neighborhood parks, commercial centers and a 100-acre Utah State University agricultural center.

But the development continues to face resistance from the area’s mayors and their constituents, with increased traffic and density among their top concerns.

“The ideal vision is one that works with the general plan,” Staggs said, referring to a 2008 Salt Lake County development plan that recommended three to five housing units per acre.

The proposed development would put almost seven units per acre.

“What has changed since 2008? If anything we have more development,” Staggs said, adding that it has been years since the southwestern corner of the county was only “one-acre lots with horse property.”

Henderson echoed Staggs’ concerns, pushing back on the idea that Olympia Hills will be an all encompassing, “live-work-play” neighborhood.

“There are no requirements for employment centers. Zero,” he said. According to Henderson, the lack of employment centers and public transportation out of Olympia Hills could overwhelm the area with traffic.

Zach Shaw from the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office spoke briefly after the mayors, arguing that the current master development agreement would promote commercial construction, which could cut back on commuter traffic.

“There is no cap for commercial building permits,” Shaw said. “That’s an incentive to build commercial developments.”

The meeting came just hours before a public hearing in Herriman where Salt Lake County residents will voice their support or opposition to Olympia Hills. Staggs said he expects to see the same level of criticism that sank the original proposition.

“You’ll see a lot of passionate residents come out as they did last time and in 2018,” he said. “I think overwhelmingly the majority are going to have concerns.”

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