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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Developer Terry Diehl and residents opposed to his plans for a resort-style project in the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon have one thing in common: They're ready for the City Council to make a decision.
The two sides just have very different ideas about what that should be.
Diehl wants the council to approve the proposed Canyon Resort Residential zone, allowing him to move forward with plans for his Tavaci mixed-use resort community, with the possibility for hotels, condominiums, restaurants and shops.
A group of residents, meanwhile, is demanding that the council listen to its constituents and send Diehl and his high-density project packing — for good.
We have not made it a practice to vote in the same meeting that we have public input.
–Scott Bracken
Neither is likely to get their way Tuesday night, when the Cottonwood Heights City Council completes its review of the proposed zone. The meeting is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1265 E. Fort Union Blvd.
The council is scheduled to hear from the developer and members of the public during the meeting. Council members could vote on the proposed ordinance following that discussion, but it typically waits a week or two to consider what has been presented before making a decision.
"We have not made it a practice to vote in the same meeting that we have public input," City Councilman Scott Bracken said.
Residents who want the city to put a stop to the project — permanently — called a news conference Monday outside the city offices.
A residents committee last year determined that the project was a bad fit for the city and recommended that no zoning laws be created or changed to allow it to go forward.
Recent revisions to the project are "not materially different from what was proposed and rejected last fall," Cottonwood Heights resident Ed Firmage Jr. said.
It's time that the city of Cottonwood Heights tell Mr. Diehl once and for all that high-density development will not happen here. If Mr. Diehl wants to turn our hillsides into an amusement park for rich out-of-staters, he'll have to do so somewhere else.
–Ed Firmage Jr.
"It's time that the city of Cottonwood Heights tell Mr. Diehl once and for all that high-density development will not happen here," Firmage said during Monday's news conference. "If Mr. Diehl wants to turn our hillsides into an amusement park for rich out-of-staters, he'll have to do so somewhere else."
The Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission recommended the Canyon Resort Residential zone for approval in August 2009, but council members at the time said they weren't comfortable with the ordinance. Several discussions about possible changes to the ordinance followed, but the issue was never brought to a vote.
Diehl now is asking the City Council to reconsider the ordinance — with some suggested revisions — and make a decision on it one way or the other.
The developers' proposed revisions include reducing the height of proposed condominiums from six stories to three, with a maximum building height of 38 feet — down from the 90 feet Diehl previously requested.
The reduction in height, according to the developer's revisions, would "drastically" reduce visibility of the project, making it "more compatible with the surrounding environment."
"We've come up with a whole bunch of reductions, addressing any legitimate concern that could be raised about the development," said Bruce Baird, development and land-use counsel for Diehl.
The request for a decision on the zoning by the Cottonwood Heights City Council comes about a month after sources told KSL-TV that Diehl was considering disconnecting the land from Cottonwood Heights and becoming part of unincorporated Salt Lake County.
Baird declined to comment on that option Monday, saying only that the developer is focused on the proposed zoning that would allow the project to move forward in Cottonwood Heights.
"We expect that the City Council will give this ordinance fair consideration," he said. "If they consider the legitimacy of the development, the quality of the project and the real world of the economy, we expect they will approve it. It's a great development."
Email:jpage@ksl.com
