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SLCo Mayor Calls for Commission to Oversee Development of Western Salt Lake Valley

Nicole Nixon

City and County officials gathered in a relatively undeveloped part of the western Salt Lake Valley to call for coordinated development in that area.

At a press conference in South Jordan near the Mountain View Corridor on Monday, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams said the rate of population growth along the Wasatch Front is becoming unsustainable and residents are seeing longer commute times to get from one end of the valley to the other.

“What we want to do is to take jobs to where the people are,” McAdams said. “So that people can live and work and play close to home, so they don’t have to drive two hours to downtown to go to work or to go and have fun.”

McAdams said he’d like to see a group modeled after the Point of the Mountain Development Commission to oversee the growth and development of the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. He’s asked the County Council for $200,000 to create a commission. There is support from at least some council members to offer up that money. 

“We’re talking about the last open space in Salt Lake County, the largest tract of land in Salt Lake County that will develop over the next 20 years,” McAdams said. “Let’s make sure that we develop it strategically. We want the right kind of development, the right kind of economic growth.”

The announcement comes a few weeks after a deal to bring a Facebook data center to West Jordan fell through without support from the county. West Jordan Mayor Kim Rolfe fought hard to bring Facebook to the city, but McAdams was vocal about his opposition to the deal, which he and others said was too rich for Facebook and would not provide enough jobs to residents. McAdams likened Monday’s announcement to an olive branch extended to West Jordan City officials and said he’d like to work collaboratively to bring economic growth to all cities in western Salt Lake County.

Nicole Nixon holds a Communication degree from the University of Utah. She has worked on and off in the KUER Newsroom since 2013, when she first joined KUER as an intern. Nicole is a Utah native. Besides public radio, she is also passionate about beautiful landscapes and breakfast burritos.
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