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Show Hearing scheduled to resolve arguments on master plan for Snyderville Basin by Rick Brough Next week's meeting on the Snyderville Basin Master Han will probably concentrate on the plan's restrictions on density and its provisions to insure "compatibility" of new building. Those were the two major concerns expressed in past hearings, said County Planning Director Jerry Smith. . The Summit County Planning Commission will hold a work session before the public on Jan. 22. 7:30 p.m. at Parley's Park Elementary School in Snyderville. Smith said the planning commission commis-sion had decided on a baseline density of 13 to 15 units per acre, and he said he felt they won't move far from that. However.the plan allows developers to gain "points" by providing desirable elements, and that would give them a density , bonus. Smith said it's likely the county would increase the amount of density that could be gained in the ;1(bonus. " 1 He also said the plan will clarify and name specific elements the : county' will use to review a project's compatibility. By far, most comments on the plan have concerned a provision that, in any development, the impervious covered area could only be a maximum of 25 percent. Under the point system, a "density bonus" could raise that up fn 30 percent Critics have said that does not provide enough land to develop a variety of densities. Planning consultant consul-tant Van Martin said builders would be pushed to construct areas with few units, at high prices. It would be economically difficult to squeeze a higher number of units (at more affordable prices) within only 30 percent of the location. "You can only shrink them so far and have something economically feasible," he said. Hy Saunders, developer of the Powderwood subdivision, said the, basin plan consultants a group of students from Utah State University recommended as much as 55 percent of the land could be covered. However, Jerry Smith said the student group recommended a maximum coverage of 35 percent with no bonus. The density bonus could award up to 55 percent of coverage, he said. The planning staff studied what kinds of densities would result from that, said Smith. It found a range going up to a maximum of 20 units per acre. For instance. Smith said, the Red Pine Chalet I at ParkWest has an estimated 46 percent coverage with 17 units an acre. The commission decided, Smith said, that an appropriate density was a maximum of 13-15 units an acre. Commission Chairman Bob McGregor Mc-Gregor said the panel wanted "something reasonable that would not be a Salt Lake, or have houses all over the place." He added, "You can do moderate-income housing, but maybe not make as much money." Of the developers, he said. "If they could cover every inch of ground, they would " He said, however, the criticisms might have some validity. "It might be well to study them a little bit." Smith said the density bonus will probably be raised above 30 percent though he didn't say how much. He felt the commission will stay around 25 percent coverage without bonuses. bonus-es. ' . But developer Hy Saunders said building cannot' go forward if the county sticks with its density of 13-15 units pen,.acre.J'They haven't done their homework if they think 13 units is viable." To build an affordable housing project, he said, the density needed, at a minimum, would be 161 or 17 units an acre, which exists now in Saunders' Powderwood project near Kimball Junction. The county should encourage a variety of densities, he said. "There's some areas where 25 units an acre is good, and places where 5 units an acre is too much." Park City Planner Bill Ligety took positions on both sides. In the county's favor, he said that the amount of coverage doesn't always effect the price of the house. "Highland Estates has huge lots and cheap housess," he said. But Ligety expressed a different objection to the density plan. The danger, he said, is that a density of 13 units per acre would be applied uniformly through the basin. While Saunders' project suffers because 13 units is too few, Ligety said, that density would also be built out in many basin locations, where it is too much. Two more meetings are scheduled on the Basin Plan another work session on February 29 at Parley's Park and a decision session in Coalville on February 5. |