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SALT LAKE CITY — A gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon may seem like a done deal, after the Utah Department of Transportation issued its final record of decision this summer in the yearslong process to identify a traffic solution to the popular skier destination.
But the idea of a lawsuit is gaining momentum, with the Central Wasatch Commission meeting sometime in the next two months to discuss whether a court challenge is feasible.
And at least one environmental group says it's seriously considering its own lawsuit, claiming the process was a "dog and pony show to build a gondola."
The Utah Department of Transportation, or UDOT, is no longer accepting public comments for the Little Cottonwood Environmental Impact Statement, which concluded on July 12.
Still, members of the Central Wasatch Commission's Stakeholder's Council, an advisory board to the main council, sent a letter to UDOT identifying five perceived issues with the proposal this summer. UDOT project manager Josh Van Jura wrote a detailed response to each point but acknowledged a court challenge is one of the only remaining ways to object because there is no citizen's appeal process.
"Neither of these regulations require a procedure or mechanism for filing a protest to a Record of Decision. Other federal agencies may have this requirement," but the Federal Highway Administration does not Van Jura writes.
"They're just basically saying 'nope, we're not interested. If you have issues, hire a really expensive attorney and take us to court,'" said Carl Fisher, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Save Our Canyons, who is also the co-chairman of the Stakeholder's Council.
On Monday, Sept. 25, the Stakeholder's Council discussed UDOT's response and voted to bring the issue to the main commission. One week later, on Monday Oct. 2, Fisher presented to the commission, requesting that they "take action including but not limited to a legal response to the UDOT decision."
Members of the Central Wasatch Commission appeared to take a cautious approach to the idea of a lawsuit. Commission Chairman Chris Robinson called it a "weighty matter," and asked to schedule a special meeting to discuss the item. Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski, who has been a vocal opponent to the gondola, said she needed to further educate herself on the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, process before she made a decision.
There is currently no set date for the special meeting where the commission will decide whether a legal challenge is in the cards. But the clock is ticking — according to UDOT, Dec. 10, 2023, is the deadline to file a complaint.
Even if the commission decides not to respond to UDOT's letter, Fisher says Save Our Canyons is considering its own lawsuit.
"Right now we're identifying issues, meeting with different folks in our community and our membership, laying out our concerns," said Fisher. "Do you think the NEPA process was violated? Do you think UDOT and the state potentially did something illegal? If there's concurrence around that, we'll file a complaint before the deadline."
In a statement, Van Jura said UDOT "is not aware of any challenges to our Record of Decision."
"In coordination with our agency partners, we continue to work toward implementation of Phase 1. This includes improved and increased bus service along with a mobility hub, resort bus stops and tolling. Phases 2 and 3 are currently unfunded," Van Jura said.
If there's a lawsuit, it's unclear exactly what the merits would be. It's possible the letter sent to UDOT identifying the five perceived issues could act as a framework for the complaint. They are as follows:
- UDOT was not comprehensive enough in its process, and should have completed a "Central Wasatch Programmatic" impact statement to look at traffic congestion in the greater region. UDOT responded, arguing that a programmatic environmental impact statement is not required under federal law.
- UDOT failed "to use an accurate purpose statement" that avoided "studying the impacts of a million people and their vehicles" in the canyon. UDOT says its projects are primarily focused on transportation, and that the "intent of the project is not to increase visitation in the canyon."
- The study area was too small, allowing UDOT "to ignore all congestion leading to" the canyon. UDOT says the scope of the study area did not restrict the process, and that it did consider alternatives from outside the area, like a train or gondola from Park City.
- UDOT didn't "recognize and study the latent demand of current canyon users which is of much larger magnitude than population growth." The final environmental impact statement "addresses the increase in both winter and summer visitation caused by the primary alternatives including latent or induced demand," UDOT wrote in response.
- The gondola violates the "roadless rule," intended to "stop segmenting the designated roadless areas into smaller and less functional units." UDOT says it "evaluated impacts to roadless areas as managed" under a prior U.S. Forest Service plan.
The Central Wasatch Commission is a nine-jurisdiction governmental body that makes decisions and carries out projects related to transportation, environmental sustainability, recreation and stewardship. Its members include Robinson, who is a Summit County councilman and chairs the commission, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Zoltanski, the mayor of Sandy.
A spokesperson for the Central Wasatch Commission declined to comment for this story.
If funded, the gondola B option will take skiers and snowboarders on an 8-mile journey — making it the longest gondola in the world — from the La Caille base station located along Wasatch Boulevard up to Snowbird and Alta at the top of the canyon.
Scores of locals and a handful of politicians have protested the gondola, worried it will be a blight on Little Cottonwood Canyon, has the potential to damage the watershed, will be a burden on taxpayers and is the result of an unfair process influenced by special interests.
It's estimated to cost taxpayers at least $729 million, although that does not include operation and maintenance costs, which send the project past $1 billion over time. Third-party estimates put the project at well over $1 billion.
UDOT says the gondola will be the third and final part of a phased approach.
- Phase 1 will start with increased bus services up Little Cottonwood Canyon, which includes more mobility hubs, and parking restrictions. It will also begin tolling drivers, with an estimated cost of $20 to $30. UDOT expects this phase to be operational by fall 2025.
- Phase 2 is dependent on funding, the department says, and includes widening Wasatch Boulevard, building new snow sheds — a structure with a sloped roof designed to protect the roadway from avalanches — and trailhead "parking improvements."
- Phase 3 is the construction of the gondola, and is also dependent on funding. UDOT says it will construct a base station with 2,500 parking spaces at the bottom of the canyon.
A gondola cabin that can hold up to 35 people will arrive at the base station every two minutes, UDOT said. Once the gondola is operating, the bus service in Little Cottonwood will no longer be available.
Clarification: A previous version attributed a quote to UDOT Project Manager Josh Van Jura that was in a letter Van Jura signed, but was not written by Van Jura himself.
