MINES AND COWS NO MORE

Big-Time Development in Salt Lake; Smaller Time in Boise

By Headwaters News, 12-19-05

The West is growing by leaps and bounds — we all know that. But sometimes plans come along that redefine what we might mean by it.

Today, the Deseret News reports on a development that will transform 93,000 acres of former mining land, 79,000 acres of which are in Salt Lake County, into new, modern communities. Tiny by comparison, the Idaho Statesman also reports on a plan to create a high-tech corporate park that can hold 22 businesses on 120 acres in what is now a cow pasture 45 minutes north of Boise.

Kennecott Land was created by Kennecott Utah Copper to determine what to do with 93,000 acres of land no longer used for mining, and the land company has decided to plan and develop the property itself. The holding is the largest such holding by a single owner in the country, and represents a clean slate for developing an area larger than almost any such area so close to a major U.S. city — the whole of it is no farther than 20 miles west of downtown Salt Lake City.

The company has a distinct style for developing these areas. According to its Web site, “Our vision is one of creating sustainable and enduring communities on Salt Lake Valley's West Bench. These communities will improve our quality of life by strengthening what matters most to all of us: the safety of our neighborhoods, the quality of our children's education, a healthy environment and a vibrant economy.�

Four thousand acres have already been developed into the community of Daybreak, which, when finished, will include 13,000 homes. Kennecott plans to develop another 41,000 acres and leave 34,000 acres as open space, much of it on steep slopes.

In Idaho, the Shadow Butte Industrial Park is praised by the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor and has received $550,000 from the state to help with infrastructure costs. It is part of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's Rural Initiative, which helped the project off the ground by matching a $2 million federal development grant. That project experienced its own growing pains, but has survived and is now considered somewhat successful.

Big development projects, especially ones supported by the state, tend to do that.

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