Spring Break
Westside Utah housing develops at high-speed
Anne Kay Hansen
Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: News
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"Our focus is on economic development in terms of Salt Lake," Carroon said. "Not necessarily just focused on the unincorporated part of the county that we have, but to try to coordinate all [development] countywide."
Carroon spoke of the massive expansion the county is experiencing, naming Utah as one of the nation's hot spots in terms of growth and home prices. Part of this can be attributed to Kennecott's current and future development, Daybreak.
Earlier in the week Salt Lake County and Kennecott Land announced a West Bench Master Plan which will extend the Daybreak development to
Magna.
"This will bring more opportunities for jobs, housing and recreation along the west bench for the next 50 years," said Jana Kettering, senior communications specialist for Kennecott Land.
Covering 144 square miles, the development will create 163,000 new housing units. The west bench construction will draw a half a million people to the Salt Lake Valley within the next 50 years.
"This project will be looked at worldwide," Carroon said. "We are not going to be doing things in a traditional manner."
He described the nontraditional approach as a break from segregated zoning areas, such as blending residential areas with business and open space into one development.
"What it will essentially be is one big planned unit development. One huge project, Carroon said. "There will be different nodes and is going to be developed over time, probably 50 years."
Traffic was named as the biggest challenge the development will present. Carroon suggested the proposed Mountain View Corridor as one solution, though also stating the funding mechanism will delay completion of the transportation project for 25 years. The plans for the corridor are not final. Carroon mentioned the idea of it being a toll road or even selling off excess land to put the construction responsibility on developers.
Kennecott Land has also considered the transportation issue in its master plan.
"We've been a supportive company toward other transportation options such as the Mountain View Corridor," Kettering said.
