Slated 240-acre development already has county approval

Aaron Osowski, The Park Record

A 240-acre residential and commercial development has already been approved by the county for the southeast corner of Silver Creek Junction, but developers may finally have all necessary documents to get a go-ahead on the project.

Silver Creek Village, as the proposed development is called, would feature 939 multi-family units, 351 single-family units and 50,000 square feet of neighborhood commercial space. It would also have around 10 community parks, civic spaces and a community garden.

The project's manager, Matt Lowe of Liberty Capital Lending, said the site plan for the development, which is located south of Interstate 80 and east of US 40, has not changed much since it went before the Summit County Council in 2011. He said that, although the neighborhood would encompass around 240 acres, the majority of development would be clustered in a space of about 100 acres.

"There will be open space between [Pace] Frontage Road and where the development begins," Lowe said. "It will be very visually pleasing from all of the freeways and have a really nice village feel to it."

When the Silver Creek Village went before the County Council in August of 2011, developers added 110 affordable housing units and 110 market-rate housing units and also decreased the amount of open space from 171 acres to 154 at the behest of the Council.

Lowe said Silver Creek Village would be very "trail friendly," as it will have both an internal neighborhood trail system as well as connections to Silver Creek Estates and Highland Estates. The neighborhood itself would be accessed via Silver Creek Drive.

Where wastewater is considered, Lowe said the development would most likely be connected to a sewer system. Summit County Health Department Director Richard Bullough said he has not had many conversations about Silver Creek Village but maintained that it would be connected to a sewer line as part of the department's greater push to address failing septic systems in the county.

"As new developments come online, it's important to bring sewer to those developments," Bullough said. "There will be sewer run over [to Silver Creek Village]. The development will only move forward with that intent in mind."

The Health Department, along with Summit County Community Development Director Pat Putt and the Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District, are in the process of gauging the interest of Silver Creek residents in hooking up to a sewer line.

The Reclamation District, Bullough said, has paid to upsize a sewer line that runs to plat I near the Silver Creek Business Park. That sewer line would be increased from an eight-inch to an 18-inch line, meaning it would be able to serve the entire Silver Creek area.

Lowe said they are looking to work with the Reclamation District to create a wastewater re-use storage pond which would use reclaimed water to water the landscaping in the neighborhood's parks.

"The goal is to try to use as little water as possible for all the landscaping," Lowe said.

Silver Creek Village will probably not be included in Service Area 3, which includes Silver Creek Estates, north of I-80, Lowe said. Service Area 3 Board Chairman Robert Olson affirmed that.

"It would be a surprise to me if we include that in Service Area 3," Olson said, who added that a sewer line has already been extended to the new Woodside Homes development and that Service Area 3 is encouraging more Silver Creek residents to connect to sewer.

With the increased traffic congestion that could come on Silver Creek Drive and near the Silver Summit exit, Lowe said developers hope to get a designated bus stop route near the neighborhood. Traffic impact fees paid from development will also go toward redoing the roundabout on that street, he said.

Lowe added that developers have draft documents submitted to the county and are waiting to hear back. If approved, he said utilities could begin to be installed late this summer with construction on Silver Creek Village to begin in late 2015.