Summit County officials are taking the next step in an ambitious project intended to overhaul and modernize the community’s planning framework this week, helping to facilitate future development in the Wasatch Back.
The Snyderville Basin General Plan Advisory Committee and Eastern Summit County General Plan Advisory Committee are scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. on Thursday for the first joint session since forming earlier in the spring.
Summit County planners are working to update the two guiding documents that haven’t been changed in almost a decade. The general plans are used by county staff and officials to influence or make decisions about land use, preservation, resource management, transportation and housing.
The joint meeting appears to be largely informative, according to the agenda, but it will be the first chance for the public to hear what committee members think the focus areas should be for eastern Summit County and the Snyderville Basin.
County planners hosted two open houses on the East Side in June for people to provide feedback on the general plan, which was last updated in 2013, and to share their ideas about what strategies should be implemented.
There was a consensus among residents that they wanted to maintain the rural feeling of North and South Summit while enhancing the community character by making improvements to main streets, landscaping or open space. They recognized the need for more single-family and attainable housing opportunities as well as agricultural preservation, too.
Residents were also invited to participate in an audit of the general plans to provide input on their impressions of the overall documents in terms of what they like, don’t like or think is missing.
Committee members are now tasked with sifting through the information for ideas, and bringing their own, to help chart the course for Summit County. The advisory panels have between five and seven members, including planning commissioners from each jurisdiction, a county councilor and members at-large.
The joint meeting will also cover additional engagement opportunities and a draft questionnaire for community input. Details about an open house in the Snyderville Basin to review the general plan are forthcoming.
A general plan must have a land use element, a transportation and traffic circulation element, a moderate income housing element, a resource management plan and a water use element.
The review process is still in the early stages and planners have emphasized now is the time for the community to become involved.
Another round of public engagement is planned for the fall. A draft document might be available for public comment in the spring or summer of 2025. County staff hope the documents will be adopted by the end of that year.
The Snyderville Basin and Eastern Summit County planning commissions would review the draft general plans, conduct public hearings and issue a recommendation to the County Council at the end of the process before a vote is held.
More information can be found at ut-summitcounty.civicplus.com/2475/General-Plans. Watch the discussion via Zoom at summitcountyut.zoom.us/j/97457319258.