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SALT LAKE CITY — Appeals of a permit to build a mountain roller coaster at Snowbird ski resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon have been taken under advisement by Salt Lake County’s Board of Adjustment.
The board voted unanimously to hold the matter over to its April 13 meeting to allow time to review the written record and consider the oral arguments waged by opponents of the coaster and representatives of Snowbird.
Opponents of the development said the county planning commission misapplied the county’s Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone in granting a conditional-use permit and slope waiver to allow construction and operation of the coaster. Therefore, its decisions should be reversed.
The coaster would travel on a raised track resting on a trestle varying from 2 to 13 feet high, according to documents filed by Snowbird with the county. As proposed, the track would cross state Road 210 -- a scenic byway -- on a bridge, although the coaster would be built entirely on private land.
Tom Stephens, one of two appellants, said the coaster was not a permitted use under county ordinances that define a ski resort.
But a representative of Snowbird said the coaster would be designed and built for year-round use, rendering the opponent’s argument moot. “It’s a four-season activity. They are engineered and constructed for winter use,” said Darlene Batatian of Mountain Land Development Services.
The second appellant, Carl Fisher, executive director of Save Our Canyons, said upholding the planning commission’s decision would lead to construction of an “unsightly coaster on Mount Superior.”
The coaster, slated to be built on the mountain’s steep slopes, would “significantly degrade” views in the canyon, Fisher said.
Batatian countered the coaster is a low-impact development. The coaster and track would be painted in neutral colors to complement the area.
“Development is not required to be invisible. That would be impossible. What what we want to do and what FCOZ (Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone ordinance) requires us to do is design for the site,” she said.
The adjustment board’s decision, slated to come down next month, can be appealed in 3rd District Court.
E-mail:mcortez@ksl.com
