A cemetery near Bear Cub Run could hold 4,040 graves. First, the county has to agree on where to dig.

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — Summit County officials stopped short of authorizing a land conveyance Wednesday for a proposed cemetery near Bear Hollow, instead urging the Snyderville Basin Cemetery District to continue outreach with nearby residents before the proposal moves ahead.

The discussion took place during a joint public hearing on a proposal to create a cemetery west of state Route 224, between Bear Cub Run and Olympic Boulevard.

District representatives said they have spent about 2.5 years studying possible locations and now view the county-owned parcel as the most workable option. They said the site appears less controversial than an earlier concept near the Utah Olympic Park and would still require additional public review, including a conditional use permit process, before the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission.

At a December cemetery district board meeting focused on the Bear Cub Run site, board member Pete Gillwald estimated the property could accommodate about 4,040 burial plots, enough to serve the community for roughly 161 years. Board members also discussed the possibility of allowing the Utah Olympic Park to use part of the property for Olympic parking while sections of the cemetery site remain undeveloped.

That distinction became central to the meeting.

Council Chair Canice Harte said the action before the council was limited. A vote on Wednesday, he said, would only direct the county manager to work toward conveying the land. It would not approve a cemetery design or authorize construction.

Council members ultimately declined to take that step.

Instead, several members said they want the cemetery district to keep engaging Bear Hollow residents and return with more details.

Council member Tonja Hanson said she would like to see the cemetery board hold an open house with Bear Hollow residents and show them its plans and vision for the site. She said that could help answer questions and ease some of the concerns raised during public comment.

Residents who spoke during the hearing raised concerns about traffic at Bear Cub Drive and state Route 224, whether nearby neighbors had been adequately notified, the need for buffering, and the cemetery’s proximity to homes.

Council member Roger Armstrong said he is ready to see progress after years of discussion about where a cemetery could go, but said traffic concerns near Bear Cub deserve serious attention. He said he was less troubled by the idea of a cemetery itself than by the road access questions tied to the site.

Council members also emphasized that any future proposal would still have to go through the county’s conditional use process. That review, they said, would address issues such as design, landscaping, buffering, access, and traffic, and would include additional public hearings before the planning commission.

By the end of the hearing, council members signaled they were comfortable allowing the cemetery district to keep working on the Bear Hollow-area site, but not yet ready to authorize a land transfer.

For now, the proposal remains active but unresolved, with the county asking the cemetery district to continue neighborhood outreach before seeking formal action on the land.