Coalition launches to oppose proposed 200-unit housing development near Round Valley

A group of community members have formed a coalition to highlight concerns with a plan being discussed with the Park City School District to develop 55 acres hat abuts open space in Round Valley. Photo: Courtesy Trailside Together

"This isn't an anti-housing movement. It's about putting housing in the right places and protecting land the county has already identified as worth preserving." – Organizers of Trailside Together

PARK CITY, Utah — A newly formed coalition is mobilizing to oppose a conceptual proposal that could bring up to 200 housing units and a regional YMCA facility to a Park City School District-owned parcel near the Highland Drive Trailhead, arguing the project conflicts with Summit County’s long-range planning goals and threatens one of the Snyderville Basin’s remaining open spaces.

The group, calling itself Trailside Together, launched a website and online petition this week as it seeks to organize residents before any formal development application is submitted. Organizers report that over 400 people had signed the petition since publishing it on Tuesday afternoon.

The coalition formed in response to a June 16 presentation to the Park City Board of Education by nonprofit developer Mercy Housing and the YMCA of Northern Utah. The proposal envisions approximately 100 to 200 affordable apartments and townhomes, some potentially reserved for Park City School District employees, along with a regional YMCA community hub on a portion of the district’s 55-acre Trailside property, which abuts Round Valley trails and open space. School board members did not take a vote, and district officials described the discussion as preliminary and conceptual.

Opponents say the location—not the need for housing—is their primary concern.

“This isn’t an anti-housing movement,” organizers say on the coalition’s website. “It’s about putting housing in the right places and protecting land the county has already identified as worth preserving.”

According to Trailside Together, the parcel, which many Parkites would easily mistake for part of Round Valley given the trails that run through it, sits within mapped wildlife habitat and migration corridors, borders the deed-restricted Round Valley open space preserve and is designated as preserved open space in the Snyderville Basin General Plan. The coalition also argues the property is ill-suited for high-density development because it has only one point of vehicle access via Highland Drive.

The group contends that adding roughly 200 homes would create traffic congestion and complicate emergency evacuations during wildfires or other disasters.

Trailside Together also points to Summit County’s own planning documents to support its case.

The coalition notes the property is zoned Rural Residential, which allows a base density of two homes across the approximately 55-acre parcel. A project approaching 200 units would require both a zoning change and approval of a master planned development, each involving public hearings and findings that the project complies with county policies.

Organizers further cite the county’s housing land prioritization analysis, which reportedly assigned the parcel a develop ability score of 1 out of 10, making it one of the least suitable locations identified for higher-density housing.

The website also highlights the county’s 2025 rejection of the nearby Highland Flats affordable housing proposal, arguing officials raised many of the same concerns—including traffic, density and consistency with the General Plan—that residents are now expressing about the Trailside concept.

The coalition’s launch comes as Summit County considers Ordinance 1016, which would change how rezonings are processed in the Snyderville Basin. Critics of the ordinance argue it would allow county officials to approve rezonings based on conceptual plans earlier in the development process, before detailed engineering and technical studies are completed. Supporters have said the proposal is intended to streamline planning while maintaining public review.

Trailside Together says the ordinance could make it easier for projects like the proposed Trailside development to move forward.

The Park City School District purchased the property in 2021 for $6 million. At the time, district officials said the land could support future educational needs. According to recorded purchase documents cited by the coalition, the property was acquired for school or education-related purposes.

During the June presentation, Mercy Housing representatives told school board members the project could help address workforce housing shortages by reserving some units for teachers and district employees. YMCA officials also proposed creating a regional hub for youth programming, child care and community services. Board Vice President Nick Hill described the discussion as exploratory, saying the board was interested in examining opportunities to meet broader community needs on land it owns.

No formal site plan, development application or feasibility study has been submitted.

Still, coalition organizers say they want residents engaged before decisions begin taking shape.

The group has launched an online petition and plans additional outreach as discussions continue. If the district ultimately pursues the proposal, any rezoning request and master planned development application would be reviewed through Summit County’s public planning process, where residents would have multiple opportunities to comment before elected officials consider any approvals.