Written comments on Salt Lake County's Wasatch Canyons preliminary master plan are being accepted by the county's Planning Division through Dec. 12.
The master plan, the subject of a public hearing last month, seeks to balance canyon development with environmental protection and guide the canyon land use allocations for the next two decades.Following the public comment period, planners will review written and oral comments and may incorporate changes into a final plan. Further hearings before the county planning commission and the board of county commissioners will be held before the final plan is adopted in April or May.
The master plan focuses primarily on the two Cottonwood canyons, but also impacts on land in City Creek, Red Butte, Emigration, Parleys and Mill Creek canyons. The draft, as written, does the following:
-Opposes the so-called Ski Interconnect - a proposed series of ski lifts linking the Cottonwood canyons with Park City.
-Favors study of a year-round transporation system to move large numbers of people quickly in and out of the canyons.
-Supports expansion of Cottonwood canyon ski resorts up to the boundaries of existing U.S. Forest Service permit areas.
-Doesn't rule out the holding of Winter Olympic events at canyon ski resorts.
Written comments should be submitted to the county Planning Division office, Room N3700, Salt Lake County Government Center, 2001 S. State.