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Show The Park Record A-2 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, July 30 - August 2, 2005 Approval is controversial Citizens rally for creek Summit County Commission authorizes top planner to develop 31 lots in Uinta Mountains By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff A controversial vote Wednesday in Coalville has allowed Summit County Community Development Director Dave Allen to move forward with an exclusive cabin development on 2,010 acres of land he owns in the Uinta Mountains. Though Allen, a Republican from Silver Creek, first proposed the so-called Bear River Ranches with his partners in 1997, the project began to raise eyebrows when he was hired as Summit County's top planner Jan. 31,2003. "I do think the perception is very important in public service," former Summit County Commissioner Patrick Cone said. "The public a lot of times has questions when you see someone within government doing that." Cone was defeated in the 2002 race for the commission seat in a Democratic primary election by Summit County Commissioner Ken Woolstenhulme. Woolstenhulme went on to defeat Allen in the general election that year. With Allen's major development agreement poised for approval by the Summit County Commission last spring, Joe Tesch, an attorney in Park City, challenged commissioners to prohibit any salaried county employees from reviewing the project to avoid conflicts of interest. The Eastern Summit County Planning Commission in 2003 endorsed Allen's request to cluster 31 lots on roughly 300 acres near the Mirror Lake Highway about 45 miles east of Kamas, Summit County Principal Planner Nora Shepard said. Faced with Tesch's criticism of the plan, the countys outside counsel, Jody Burnett, advised the County Commission to remand the matter back to the Planning Commission. This month the board forwarded another favorable recommendation for the project. "I think it was a very wise choice to ask [Burnett] to step in," County Commissioner Sally Elliott said. "I think we handled it very well." But to allow such high density in the forest the County Commission considered two noncontiguous parcels - about 30 miles apart - as one development. Development rights were stripped from nearly 3,000 acres of sagebrush-lined rangeland Allen owns near Echo Canyon and placed on more than 2,000 acTes of thickly forested property in the Uinta Mountains. According to Tesch, Summit County has never allowed a landowner to combine two parcels into one project. "The problem is ... the applicant could add another 16,000 acres of scrub oak (unaccessible and undevelopable) and therefore increase the density that he can put on the Bear River Ranches by 100 units," states a letter from Tesch to Shepard written April 15. The county "invented" the process for Allen, Tesch claims. "This simply does not pass the smell test," writes the attorney in the letter. Shepard claims the Eastern Summit County Development Code does not specify whether nonadjacent parcels can be developed as one. "The code doesnt really talk about it one way or the other," she said. Without combining the parcels, Allen would be allowed to construct only 13 cabins on his land in the Uintas, Tesch said during an interview Friday. The plan prevents development along an open stretch of Interstate 80 and clusters cabins amongst dense trees, Shepard's staff report states. Land near Echo Canyon can still be used for agriculture and grazing, the report adds. Elliott praised Wednesday's unanimous approval as "very unique and innovative." "We have very good planning advice and I think we have very good legal advice," she said Friday. GRAYSON WEST/PARKRECORD The group pictured here help with ongoing efforts to restore East Canyon Creek in the Snyderville Basin Friday morning by planting trees along the creek near Bitner Road In cooperation with Swaner Nature Preserve officials. High water temperatures and elevated phosphorous levels plague the stream and Friday's project Is one of several currently underway to help the troubled waterway. Receivers can track lost Scouts Outage affects Summit, Salt Lake • Continued from A-1 the cash registers and they only last an hour. After an hour we have to shut down the store." Generators dont keep refrigerated and frozen food as cold and a handbook at the store instructs managers when they must dispose of those items, Fitzgerald said. "Because with our fruit,frozenstuff and the lunchmeat and that ... it would actually spoil and it would be a hazard for us to sell it to the customers," she said. "They like us to shut down the store so that we wouldn't sell some bad stuff to customers and have them never come back." Fitzgerald estimates the electricity was out for about 45 minutes at the store Wednesday afternoon. "We had to have people at each door to secure them," she said. Doors were locked at Wslls Fargo Bank in Park City shortly after the lights went out around 2 p.m., s^ys branch manager Shelly Hisler. "Just for security purposes ... it causes things to shut down," Hisler said. "We opened up as soon as it came back on." Power should have been restored for most Summit County residents around 2:29 p.m., Hymas said, adding that circuits in Park City were fixed sooner and electricity wasnt completely restored in Salt Lake County until about 2:45 p.m. "It affected customers in Park City, Kamas, Snyderville, pretty much the whole surrounding area," he said. "I had a report that Coalville was affected." Utah Power was still investigating this week what caused the electrical failure, Hymas added. "We got a lot of callsfromcustomers and we encourage that," he said. "That helps us to determine the size and the scope of the outage." Traffic signals were down throughout the county but the power failure caused no significant accidents, Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said. "My first concern was the jail," Edmunds said, adding that Wednesday's was the most significant power outage on the West Side since he took office in 2003. "But we have contingencies and redundancies. All the generators kicked in." Deputies were dispatched to direct traffic at intersections near Kimball Junction and Silver Creek, Edmunds said. "We do go into a little bit different mode," the sheriff said. "You start to worry about seniors with this heat." Most Park City motorists seemed to treat signaled intersections as fourway stops when the electricity was out, Park City police Lt. Phil Kirk • Continued from A-1 said. tracked in caves or underwater. "We didnt have any problems," Summit County resident Kirk said. "No accidents, no serious John Bollwinkel, district chair traffic problems and people did of the Summit District of the exactly what they should do." Great Salt Lake Council, Kirk says in most cases local med- intends to organize a training ical clinics also have emergency session for local Scout leaders power supplies. The Park City Fire District was plagued by false alarms during the outage, Fire District spokeswoman Tricia Hurd said, adding that most of the firefighters spent Wednesday afternoon responding to bunk calls. "Our crews had to go on radio backup," she said, adding that telephones, computers and alarm tones at the fire stations were down. Generators in the Summit County Justice Center allow dispatchers to handle emergency calls nearly uninterrupted during a power failure, Summit County sheriff's Captain Brent Ball said. "Our society is very dependent upon electricity and that makes our responsibility to provide safe and reliable service to our customers very important," Hymas said. "It's a smart move to have a generator or backup power supply if you are a business that needs to have a continuous supply of electricity ... sometimes unexpected outages do occur and we always encourage our customers to be prepared for those unexpected types of events." to learn how to use radio telemetry. "It think it is something that will be useful," Bollwinkel said. Scoutmasters trained in how to use the transmitters can instruct Scouts about how to best utilize the equipment, Godfrey said. "If [leaders] are coming into our office and getting them they have some concerns," Godfrey said. Contact the Great Salt Lake Council at (801) 582-3663 for more information about borrowing the equipment when applying for Scout tour permits. Ice rink remains on schedule • Continued from A-1 son passes or punch passes to people who live in Park City and the boundaries of the recreation district. "It makes it a reasonably priced sport," she said. She expects that sports like figure skating, speedskating, broomball and curling will be offered at the ice rink as well as time for public skating. The Park City Council supported the recreation complex as a means to reduce pressure on other local fields and as a method to draw sporting events like softball and rugby tournaments. Meanwhile, Hilton reports that City Hall's second major construction project, a garage in Swede Alley, is on schedule for a Dec. 15 comple- tion. It will hold 304 spots, netting 277 spaces since some existing spots will be lost to the new construction. He said crews last week were expected tofinishthe excavation of the site and next week they plan to form the footings. Hilton said they plan to start pouring cement within two weeks. "Everything's going well and looking forward to seeing the cement starting to pour," Hilton said. Inteifnet-porn charges are filed Afterward, Schapper told the authorities that he had obtained child pornography with a file-sharing program known as 'Kazaa,' which allowed him to search and collect images based on key words, according to the Ross filing. By JAY HAMBURGER The filing said the defendant admitted looking for Of the Record staff images of child pornography last summer and that he The State Attorney General's Office has charged a "also looked at a lot of adult pornography." Park City man with 10 felony counts alleging that he Schapper told the authorities that, while his compossessed child pornography downloaded from the puter was being repaired, he sought child pornography Internet. on a roommate's computer, according to the filing. Robert Joseph Schapper, 26, was charged with 10 Ross and Ford found what is described as a pornocounts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The charges graphic image of a girl who Ross describes as being SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Utah but that it's "too early" to commit "I'm preparing for it like I always are second-degree felonies, punishable by between one between 12 and 14 years old. Paul Amann, the assistant Utah attorney general Republicans have yet tofindanyone Christensen is also considering a re- have. I take fundraising and cam- and 15 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine. Local telephone directories did not have a listing for who is prosecuting the case, claims that Schapper has willing to take on Democratic U.S. election campaign for his statehouse paigning very seriously," he said. close to 100 images of child pornography. Rep. Jim Matheson for the 2nd seat, or could opt to run for the state A mid-July Federal Election Schapper. Congressional District seat next year. Senate if Sen. Al Mansell, R-Sandy, Commission filing shows Matheson In afive-pagefilingmade at Third District Court at "I've had similar cases like this from all over the Silver Summit, FBI special agent Jeffrey Ross claims state," said Amann, who is assigned to Internet-porn Two years ago, more than one retires. Considering Matheson's with more than $333346 in cash. Republican was actively seeking to track record as a strong fundraiser That no one yet wants to chal- that the Park City Police Department was tipped to the and online-predator cases. knock Matheson from his seat in the and campaigner, "it's getting a bit lenge Matheson is odd. The 2nd case on Sept. 14, 2004. The filing states that a techniHe said most similar cases are settled, but there is a late" for the GOP to be without a Congressional heavily Republican district. District votes cian at a Salt Lake City computer shop, Valcomm "good possibility" that Schapper would be imprisoned Matheson beat the well-financed "quality candidate," Brigham Young Republican 60 percent of the time Computers, contacted the police after Schapper if convicted. John Swallow in 2004 by 15 percent- University political science professor and the race has long been a nation- dropped off a computer for repairs. "We consider everybody collecting child pornograThe technician saw images that he believed to be phy a bigfish,"he said. age points and returned to Kelly Patterson. al and local target. Washington for a second term. Amann praised the computer-shop worker for alertPatterson defines quality candi"The longer I'm in office, the child pornography. He told the police that he observed Swallow and Tun Bridgewater - date as someone who has previously tougher it is for anyone to make a images of nude girls between the ages of 13 and 16 and ing the authorities. other files on the computer with names indicating they who challenged Swallow in GOP pri- won an elected race in the district competitive race," Matheson said. "It was smart for them to do it... They did the right maries in 2002 and 2004 to run and who has a fundraising record. thing. They are to be congratulated for that," he said. Exit polls show 20 percent of might be child pornography. Mary Ford, a Park City detective, seized the Toshiba against Matheson - have both He also said that such cases are occurring all over Christensen hasnt raised a dime "hard Republicans" voted for declined to make another run, state for a U.S. House campaign, but said Matheson in 2004, despite more than hard drive. Ford and Ross approached Schapper at his even though Internet-pom charges are rare in Park GOP Chairman Joe Cannon said. he thinks "thefinancesare manage- $1.2 million spent by national GOP residence on Oct. 19 and confronted him with the com- City and Summit County. "I don't know if there's any community immune to Cannon has talked to other possi- able, I could hit that pace" and raise groups, including the National plaint from the technician. They told Schapper that the this sort of pernicious activity," Amann said. ble candidates but has yet to secure a the estimated $1 million or more Republican Committee and the computer had been handed over to the police. needed. Matheson is operating on National Republican Congressional commitment. State Rep. LaVar Christensen, R- the assumption that he'll face a Committee, in hopes of defeating Please see today's Slow the Flow water conservation insert. him. Sandy, said he's considering the idea, Republican challenge. Local man faces jail time after images allegedly found Matheson without challengers yet THE PATIO IS NOW OPEN! 0 U I N D DO G $20.05 Sushi Menu Miso Soup Edamame Japanese Nachos Firecracker Roll (Does not include tax or gratuity) No Substitutions OPEN MONDAY - SATURDAY Starting at 5:00 pm for dinner Reservations Warmly Accepted 655-0800 And now Dee Seafood & Grocery (Expires July 31st) RESTAURANT $20.05 Dinner Menu Blind Dog Salad Choice of Fresh Catch of the Day or Blind Dog Brisket Vanilla Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise (Docs not include tax or gratuity) No Substitutions Behind Old Miners Carwash 1792 Bonanza Drive (Expires fufo 31st) |