Many of Salt Lake County's elected officials are tired of talking about the impacts of growth. They want action.
But to get results, they agreed Thursday, they need to do a lot more of what they've been doing for years - talking. That's all they did here at the Alta Lodge.Thursday's discussion, sponsored by the Salt Lake County Council of Governments, was held to review progress on growth-related issues and plan for more lobbying at the Capitol next year.
"We obviously didn't solve anything," Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, president of the Council of Governments, said in closing the meeting. "But to be able to have the dialogue and continue it, especially since we all have different interests, (is important)."
More than 50 officials attended. They represented Salt Lake County's cities, the town of Alta, the Salt Lake County Commission, the Legislature, the Wasatch Front Regional Council, the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District and other entities. Discussion focused on three areas in which growth has had a tremendous impact - transportation, water and open space.
Support for widening I-15 through Salt Lake County is overwhelming, but officials said Thursday that many state roads are also in desperate need of repair. They fear those needs could be overshadowed or ignored.
As with all growth-related problems, the key to solving transportation woes is money. Dolan said Gov. Mike Leavitt has given the impression he would support a local-option tax to generate money specifically for transportation needs. A recent Utah League of Cities and Towns survey showed many residents would support a one-eighth or one-fourth of a cent increase in the sales tax if they knew the money would go directly to road construction and maintenance.
When discussing water, some officials suggested that maybe growth along the Wasatch Front isn't such a good idea.
"Maybe we should be more decentralized," offered South Jordan Mayor Theron Hutchings. "We don't all have to live in the same place. We need to spread out a little."
If the current growth continues, water shortages may begin to occur in about a decade, according to information provided by the council. Water supply should continue to be adequate for the east side of the Salt Lake Valley, but westsiders could run into problems in the not-too-distant future.
What is needed? Water conservation, protection of water sources, maintenance of infrastructure and, of course, money.
Local communities need to work with the newly created Utah Open Lands Committee to identify areas that can be preserved, council members said. But the obstacle to creating more open space, once again, is funding.
County Commissioner Randy Horiuchi said the state needs to take more of a leadership role in the open space effort because "that's where the money is."
It was suggested that state matching grants would give local governments incentive to buy land and preserve it as open space. Another suggestion was to encourage developers to set aside strips of open space that would continue from one development into the next.
Some in attendance, including Alta Mayor Bill Levitt, showed signs of losing patience with the process. Levitt told the gathering that of the 25 years he's served as Alta's mayor, he's spent 20 talking about joint planning as a way to handle the impacts of growth. Levitt urged a meeting with the county's planners, who've been meeting on their own with guidance from the Wasatch Front council.
"They've got to come to (the Council of Governments) and tell us what they want," he said. "We've got to get the planning people to come in with results."
Following the meeting, Levitt expressed optimism. What's different about growth talks these days, he said, is that nearly everyone is participating.
"I think (Thursday's turnout) was very significant in the sense of their concern for what the impact of growth has been," Levitt said after the meeting. "I feel very hopeful because (other officials) are now dedicated to getting some fulfillment of this planning."