Fields, Forests and a Big Future
Photo Courtesy of Heber Valley Chamber Bureau/Joe Putnam
Ask people new to Heber Valley why they moved here, and you’re likely to get a gesture in response. No, not that one. Locals will break into a smile and gesture grandly at the surroundings. To the south, timbered national forest land forms a wall, penetrated by Daniels Canyon, which leads to Utah’s single best fishing hole, Strawberry Reservoir. To the north, the undeveloped mountains of Wasatch Mountain State Park join with the waters of Jordanelle Reservoir to form a geographic boundary. To the east, more timbered mountains are lush with aspen, spruce, deer and elk. And to the west, all eyes become riveted on mighty Timp. Mount Timpanogos is the wide, flat-topped behemoth that towers over all, easily the most recognized and photographed peak in the entire run of the Wasatch Mountains. It’s the main reason travelers far and wide compare the Heber Valley to Switzerland.
And, oh yes, a river runs through it. The Provo River flows swift, cold and clear from the Jordanelle to Deer Creek Reservoir in Timp’s shadow. A decade ago, the Provo was a concrete-and junk car-lined ditch designed to keep water moving fast without evaporating too quickly. But today, the Provo has been restored to its natural banks, winding scenically through the Heber Valley and its green fields of alfalfa.
Does the picture sound tempting? It is. “People are trying to get a piece of a peaceful, thoughtful way of life,” longtime valley planner Bob Mathis says. “They come gushing with enthusiasm to embrace this life.” The Heber Valley is growing fast, getting discovered, and getting developed. Thoughtful planners like Mathis and his colleagues are working with landowners, developers, activist citizens and concerned local governments to get ahead of an explosive growth curve that’s on the doorstep.
“What’s causing us to be discovered,” Mathis says simply, “is Park City. They’re about out of property there.” Mathis used to be Wasatch County’s planner, and then its Olympic co-coordinator. (The single busiest Olympic Venue in 2002, by the way, was the Soldier Hollow cross-country ski facility built near Deer Creek Reservoir on Wasatch Mountain State Park land.) Now Mathis is Midway’s town planner while Al Mickelsen plans for Wasatch County. “What we’ve seen is Park City people who say, ‘I can get a lot more for the money’ by moving down Highway 40 to the Heber Valley,” Mickelsen says.
The raw numbers bear out what you see on the ground as you drive or bicycle around the valley’s country roads, now lined with ‘For Sale’ signs. In 1970, at the cusp of Park City’s development as a resort town, Wasatch County had 7,200 citizens. By 1990, it had grown to 9,600, and in just two years, its projected 2010 population will be over 31,000. And look at tiny Midway, charming with its original pioneer homes finished in Swiss style to reflect the heritage of its first settlers. From that same 1970 baseline, Midway was a village of 800. Now its population is around 3,000, and Mathis estimates that at full build-out by 2030, Midway could be a city of 17,000. The Wasatch County seat, Heber City, has annexed surrounding land and is growing proportionately as well, with a new Wal-Mart Super Center and the huge Red Ledges community coming on line soon.
“Having Park City around the bend is a prime attraction,” Red Ledges Marketing Vice President Maria Johnson reports. Red Ledges, just east of Heber City in a valley with striking red rock formations and 200-year-old junipers, plans 800 homesites, 100 condominiums and 300 cottages built over the next dozen years, with a Jack Nicklaus golf course as its centerpiece. Sales are under way, and the golf course is nearly finished. “The beauty, without a doubt, is another attraction,” Johnson points out, “with Timpanogos and the whole Wasatch Range. And in Heber City, more restaurants are opening and there are established resorts in Midway with Zermatt and the Homestead.” As always when a beautiful place gets discovered, the danger lies in killing the golden goose. This time around, with Park City and Summit County to learn from, local governments are demanding, and developers are agreeing, to tackle big issues up front.
Once a month all interested parties meet to discuss common growth issues. Planning professionals try to meet weekly. And as in Park City, open space preservation and affordable housing have risen to the top as issues commanding immediate attention.
“Prices have gone way out of proportion,” Mickelsen says. “Homes and property are out of reach for the locals.” Wasatch County now demands that 10 percent of every development contain affordable units.
Right now, prime among the Heber Valley’s many charms are the wide-open fields full of grazing cows and horses, and the big expanses of alfalfa crops. “The crown jewels of the county are the north and south fields (between Heber and Midway), and the green corridor of the restored Provo River,” Mickelsen says. “But a lot of the farmers can’t afford to keep farming. As we continue to grow, we’re going to need that open space.”
Working with willing buyers and sellers, planners are putting together TDRs —Transfers of Development Rights — which allow farmers to sell the development rights deeded to their lands to developers who will transfer that density to other, less prominent properties. It’s a process Summit County has used for years to preserve open space and relieve farmers of the pressure to sell or subdivide.
Surrounded by high peaks, blue waters and bisected by a spectacular trout stream, Heber Valley is as attractive as any valley in the Rockies. Here’s hoping its scenic and human values don’t diminish, as it becomes the next big thing in Utah mountain living
Frequent contributor Larry Warren is a new Midway resident who enjoys the mountain views, the river, the road biking, and the occasional chickens, goats, deer and horses that wander into his backyard.
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