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Show Opinion and Editorial | PAGE 9 < WASATCH COUNTY COURIER JuLy 7, 1999 Out Gunned, Out Lawyered — ast December Wasatch County signed an annexa- agreement the moment that an occupancy permit is. given, Wasatch County must provide a full time manned fire serv- tion agreement with Park City. In this agreement Wasatch County very expensive gave control of a large tract of land to Park City. The ice to the same levels as provided by Park City’s Fire District. Envision a full time staff of 12 firemen protecting development annexed into Park City, Deer Crest,.is a private gated community. Lots in the development sell in the million-dollar range. Private ski runs, with snow making, lead to the lots. This is an area of trophy homes for the very, very rich complete with a Ritz-Carlton hotel. What we’re talking one multi-million dollar property that is only occupied during Christmas. All this while residents, real residents, of the rest of the county continue with their volunteer service. This is not to demean On the contrary, they do a remarkable job. Their response times are extraordinary and their level of expertise and commit- about are 10 million dollar homes used for a few weeks a year (usually Christmas) by the owners or their friends, ala Clinton and Gore. As part of this agreement Park City provides thecae By DAN STEPHENS why the disparity in the level of service? This new fire- Courter Pusuiser protection and Wasatch County provides the fire protec- /Manacwc Eprror house is being built with money out of the county’s General Fund. That is money you and I paid in property ment to the community are unquestioned. The question is tion and EMT’s. At first look Wasatch County providing taxes. The folks in Deer Crest are paying the same rate per thousand dollars‘of property value as the people in Heber, Midway and the rest of the county. So why are they getting such a great deal? I think the answer is we were outclassed at the negotiation table. A great deal would have been one where the money from Deer Crest raised the level the fire protection makes sense. There is an awful lot of other development slated to take place in the Mayflower area in parts of the county that weren’t annexed. The county will obliviously have to provide fire and police protection to these areas when they start building. However one part that doesn’t make sense is the difference in the level of service the folks at Deer Crest are getting compared to the level of _ of service for the entire county. Instead we got an agreement where there are two levels of service, Deer Crest’s and rest of us. service the other residents of the county are receiving. According to the — Letters to the Editor a_ resounding “NO!” During the 1999 legislative session, our state senators and representatives gave Utah schools a measly 2.5 % increase in funding. Utah already spends less than nearly every — other state on education. To add injury to insult, insurance costs for Wasatch County School District alone increased by 47%. Not only did this increase wipe Traditionally in the west when land use and development questions and disputes arose they usually centered around ownership, property rights or water rights. Then when growth management and planning emerged in the early 70’s master plans and zoning ordinances were added to the mix. With urbanization citizens and their leaders felt the need and desire to retain the charac- | ter and “sense of place” that was. out a cost of living raise for every established school district employee, but it may Planned growth and preservation of their surroundings was vital to their demand cuts to existing programs. Do the citizens of Wasatch County _ know this? Instead of criticizing teachers for being unhappy, tell your local legis_ lator how you feel about his callous- ness toward your child. It’s your child’s future that is at stake. Fifty years from now no one will care whether the Olympics were success- in their communities. quality of life and general welfare. Sensitive Area Ordinances. -(S.A.O.’s) were conceived to serve the multifold purpose of protecting and conserving the environment and natural resources plus helping municipalities avoid unwise development decisions. Hillsides, unstable soils and rock textures, flood ity of Utah governments saw fit to adopt Sensitive Area Ordinances. Cities and towns of all shapes and sizes like Provo, Park City, Riverton, Coalville, Mapleton, Oakley, etc., have comprehensive and effective S.A.O.’s. Some are one page types. but are very sufficient to accomplish their goals. Oakley, on the other hand, has a 22 page S.A.O. that was drawn up with the assistance of Andy Hall, Darrel Cook and Homer Chandler of The Mountainlands Association of Governments in 1998 © as part of a new Land Management and Development Code. The extent of their existing problem areas plus what they might take through annexations prompted that far reaching a tool. However, a very interesting sit- uation exists in the City of Midway. — In its 15-year old Master Plan there plain regions, wetlands, shallow ground water, wildlife habitats and is a phrase, which states “all of Midway City could be considered as sensitive areas”, and which has passages that refer to “The Sensitive child stream corridors are generally cov- Area received the education he or. she deserved and needed. Don’t let our _ ered. With complete and proper stud- ful or whether I-15 was finished in time for the Olympics. What will matter is whether your ies and careful consideration proper- Ordinance”. What’s wrong _with this picture? Simply that See WAKE UP page 10 ones to publish based on our own agen- da. However, a few rules are probably in order. accusations. | 2. We apologize in advance if we are unable to print your letter because of space considerations. But, please, don’t stop writing. We will try our best to print your next letter. 3. We will print letters as they are submitted, with spelling and grammatical errors. This is not because we want to embarrass or ridicule writers with their errors. It is because we do not want to unintentionally change the meaning of your letter. Some letters are written in character with intentional errors to emphasize a a point. We will be glad to proof and correct any letters that have a written request to do so after the signature. Of course, we nonce lnacmeiacaitl 1. We reserve the right not to print letters we deem to be inflammatory, factually inaccurate or with unsupported i is Wasatch County Courier. We will do our best to print all letters we receive. We promise not to pick and choose which cory questions We invite the submission of reader opinion letters for publication in The | those Editor: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY won’t print that request in The Courier. You are also invited to come to our office and write your letter at one of our computers. Please call 654-2661 in advance to schedule a time on one of our machines. 4. We give arene to ele submitted on 3 1/2 floppy disks in text only for- mat. Please keep your letters under 500 words. We do reserve the right to edit long letters for brevity. _ All letters must include a signature and a phone number. Please bring a photo ID with your submitted letter. The Courier will confirm the identity of the writer. We will not print your letter without conformation. The Wasatch County Courier is not responsible for, nor do letters to the editor express the views of The Wasatch County Courier. The Wasatch County Courier cannot and does not vouch for _ the accuracy or validity of any Letters to the Editor. hile of much less in jeopardy of engaging in thankless and costly legal battles the welfare of the =o as a whole. Utah is considered a staunch ‘property rights state and somewhat pro-developer. Ironically, though, research shows that the great major- _ just smoke and mirrors? Judging by | both are “ment rights but to balance those with — Does the Utah State legislature value education? What about our vaunted education governor? Is his commitment to education more than to governments over construction failures. The intent is not to lessen property or develop- Rich Rasband the recent legislative session and Mike Leavitt’s response, the answer and thertinencas tte Sincerely, Editor: ty owners AT Poor gratle shortsighted state legistannter limit _ your child’s future. heececertneeermmnetttercast tier ul? sree | our volunteer firemen. |
