A public hearing is slated for Thursday on the proposed creation near Hoytsville of Cedar Crest Village, a community that is envisioned as providing housing and employment opportunities while protecting open and agricultural lands.
The Eastern Summit County Planning Commission hearing is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the multipurpose room at Ledges Event Center, 202 E. Park Road in Coalville. People can attend the meeting in person or join via Zoom at https://summitcountyut.zoom.us/j/99249026124.
No decisions will be made at the meeting and the Planning Commission plans to discuss the project further at its Dec. 7 meeting.
The Summit County Council adopted an ordinance in 2018 allowing for a village overlay zone in many areas, including Hoytsville. The village overlay is intended to re-establish and revitalize existing unincorporated communities in the eastern part of the county through incentivized cooperation and community design flexibility.
A village overlay aims to address community needs that include streets and other infrastructure, housing, space for local start-up businesses and live-work space, enhanced local employment opportunities and access to regional public transportation.
In April 2019, a group of landowners submitted a Cedar Crest Village overlay application to the Summit County Planning Department. The initial study area boundary was approved the next month by the Summit County Council and the Cedar Crest Village Overlay Committee was appointed.
The committee has met nearly 50 times to develop a plan for a master-planned community on 67 parcels that cover 1,085 acres. Larry H. Miller Real Estate and Ivory Homes were invited to design and build the development.
On Sept. 28, the committee voted unanimously to forward a positive recommendation to the Eastern Summit County Planning Commission, which is reviewing the proposal as a rezone and master planned development. The commission will make recommendations to the Summit County Council for a final decision.
If the County Council approves the overlay and a development agreement, Cedar Creek Village would still be part of unincorporated Summit County and people would be able to continue farming and ranching both in the existing zoning and in the overlay zone. Landowners can apply to have their property be part of the zone but no one can be forced to do so.
The developers want to cluster future growth in village core areas so they can maintain open and agricultural land and protect scenic view corridors, natural resources, groundwater, waterways and wetlands. The proposal calls for an overall density of four housing units per acre over the entire Cedar Crest overlay zone with intensifying densities up to 25 units per acre in the core areas and no housing in some areas.
The units would be built over a few decades and would likely never reach the maximum number because many property owners may choose to keep the existing homes and uses, according to the applicants.
The plan envisions a broad range of apartments, condominiums, townhomes, paired homes and cottages and small lots to estate and ranch lots, with pricing from $450,000 up to more than $1 million. There is no requirement for affordable housing in the Eastern Summit County Development Code, but Larry H. Miller and Ivory Homes say they want to incorporate ideas for housing attainability and explore working with housing programs in Summit County.
For more information on the project, visit the applicants’ website, https://www.cedarcresthoytsville.com/.