Dakota Pacific referendum sponsors hold county-wide signature drive as developer moves to block effort

Summit County residents sign the Dakota Pacific referendum at The Market in Park City on January 21, 2025. Photo: TownLift

To date, the petition effort stands at just over half its signature goal. With less than half the time remaining and an incoming blizzard, sponsors say they say they need all the voters they can gather from the far reaches of Summit County

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah – A group of seven referendum sponsors is launching a countywide signature drive this Saturday in an effort to bring Summit County Ordinance 987 to voters on the November 2025 ballot. The ordinance, which amends Dakota Pacific’s Development Agreement (DA), has sparked controversy, with organizers arguing that the deal contains what they say are concerning provisions.

The “Day of a Thousand Signatures” event will take place on Saturday, February 15, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the library parking lots of Coalville, Kamas, and Kimball Junction. Volunteers will collect signatures from registered voters directly from their car windows to maximize efficiency and minimize exposure to cold weather.

The effort comes amid reports of more anti-referendum propaganda being passed out across Summit County this week. Scott Petler, a resident of Silver Creek, said a person came to his door with a card trying to persuade him not to sign the petition.

“The developers are very worried about this petition, that is a good thing. The last thing we need here is more density than what is already allowed on this property. Please do sign the petition,” Pelter wrote on Next Door.

The cards and campaign against the referendum is being run by Wasatch Back Future, a Political Interest Committee started by Dakota Pacific Real Estate executives, including Dakota Pacific CEO, Marc Stanworth.

Concerns Over the Amended Agreement

The referendum’s sponsors, believe the amended Dakota Pacific agreement includes provisions that were not properly discussed in 22 public meetings, while county officials say all of the concerns outlined were discussed in open meeting negotiations with the developer on multiple occasions.

One of the key concerns the sponsors (Protect Summit County ) have is a developer contribution cap of $4 million, which sponsors of the referendum say is significantly lower than expected.

County Manager Shayne Scott said that the developer contribution amount was discussed extensively during public meetings.

“The proposal we started with was more than $4M and what DPRE wanted to pay was $3M and the negotiation landed on $4M,” Scott said.

Referendum sponsor’s say many of the community benefits touted as part of the Dec. 18 agreement – an 800-person amphitheater and public plazas among them – were never asked for by residents and the $4M cap is insufficient.

“The $3.7M left under Dakota’s cap (after they satisfy a $300,000 obligation for pedestrian tunnel improvements unpaid by the previous owner) won’t go far when we consider the all-in costs of projects of this magnitude, individually and especially collectively. From consulting through remediation to site planning/prep to construction, Dakota Pacific’s paltry $4M contribution to the overall elements of the public private partnership will go quick leaving taxpayers county-wide on the hook for the rest,” referendum sponsors said.

Another concern is affordable housing AMI levels that could shift at the developer’s discretion, referendum sponsors say.

Scott said the deed restrictions have not been signed yet and would be done so as part of a joint venture and future process.

“I do not recall any way that the developer has discretion over changing AMI levels,” Scott said.

Another chief concern of both referendum sponsors and residents of Summit County is worsened traffic congestion in Snyderville Basin.

Scott said what has been verified by professionals to worsen traffic on SR-224 and the Kimball Junction interchange would be to build a tech park on the property.

“Without this amended development agreement, funding and timing for the Kimball Junction interchange fixes remains in limbo,” Scott said.

Under the current agreement, residential phasing is tied to UDOT milestones or tranches in the DA. Referendum sponsors say this a mechanism to throttle the density of residential units being built to the progress of the UDOT improvements and these tranches lack specificity.

“The UDOT improvements as they were presented in UDOT’s EIS Phase only get more cars through Kimball Junction faster,” referendum sponsors explained.

They claim UDOT’s study is flawed and the study area ended at Bear Hollow.

“More passenger vehicle throughput has to go somewhere, and this means in allowing more cars to bypass Kimball Junction faster, more cars will pour deep into the heart of the basin faster.  UDOT’s primary function is to assure safe and functional roadways. They will not abandon required commitments to improve major highway intersection flow and function because a developer isn’t allowed to add hundreds of housing units at an already congested and compromised area,” sponsors said.

Referendum sponsors also said they believe the County and High Valley Transit could negotiate a better deal with Dakota Pacific and achieve greater outcomes in terms of measurable traffic reduction using DRPE contributions, state and federal grants, and monies for such improvements that will be distributed in advance of the 2034 Olympics.

“Summit County is on UDOT’s long range plan. Reigning in Dakota Pacific and restoring their original DA won’t result in our state transportation agency being punitive and abandoning their obligations on and around route 80,” they said.

A Challenging Road Ahead

To succeed, referendum sponsors must collect 4,554 certified voter signatures, representing 16% of registered voters in Summit County, with proportional distribution across three out of four Voter Participation Areas by March 3.

To date, the 45-day petition effort stands at just over half its signature goal. But with less than half the time remaining and sponsors aiming for a much higher signature total (a number they won’t confirm), they say they need all the voters they can gather from the far reaches of Summit County.

Sponsors said that holidays, winter weather, and the Sundance Film Festival have made signature collection difficult, noting printing costs for the required 160-page petition packets exceed $3,000.

Sponsors say that since the Summit County Clerk deemed their application to pursue a referendum valid, the matter is now an election issue, not a land-use issue.

Of the looming threat of SB 258 and Dakota Pacific’s potential to form its own town, sponsors call this an idle threat and urge people not to take the bait.

“We are confident if we succeed in getting enough signatures to put Ordinance #987 amending Dakota’s development agreement on the ballot, then the legislature will abstain from interfering with voters,” sponsors of the referendum said.

Input from Wasatch Back Future and Dakota Pacific Real Estate was sought, but was not responded to by press time.