The Draper City Council is moving forward on a $5.6 million dollar contract with Zions Bank for the purchase of 2,200 acres of undeveloped land in the SunCrest development, including part of Corner Canyon. Mayor Darrell H. Smith says the property is located next to 1,800 acres of undeveloped land the city already owns, adding the purchase will create more outdoor recreation opportunities as well as public access to open space.
“We have a very active parks and trails committee, and we have done very well as far as creating recreation areas up there, so we see a continuation of that. Salt Lake County owns several hundred acres of open space in the same area, so between this potential purchase there would be roughly 4,000 acres of open space up there which is almost unheard of right now,” he says.
Smith says the purchase would give the city control of future sales of the property, as well as its development. However, he notes there are concerns about the property’s special service district, and what the purchase would mean for those who live there and pay more in taxes.
“There’s definitely much more expense up there, the amount of salt that’s used, the amount of man power, the amount of equipment we have had to purchase, so there is the special service district up there, and obviously most people would like to see that shared by all the residents, so that’s some of the concern there, how the special service district will be funded and the future of that,” he says.
The city has until October 31st to finalize the purchase.
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