Summit County developers suggested reducing the density of a proposed mixed-use project near Jeremy Ranch by at least 40% to ensure it’s financially feasible and compatible with the surrounding area.Economic Development and Housing Director Jeff Jones estimated up to 210 units could be built on the Cline Dahle parcel on Rasmussen Road. However, Columbus Pacific Principal Tony Tyler thought that was too dense. “It’ll fit. That’s not the issue. The issue is … you’re going to end up with a product that looks like a single-phase large-scale multifamily apartment project. That’s what that density on a 15-acre site would look like. What I would try to do is carve off the spaces that you think we should keep and how you think we should engage them,” he said. Tyler and other community members with experience in construction and design told the Summit County Council on Wednesday it’s more realistic to build between 120 and 140 units with up to 10 units per acre to create additional space for community amenities. Building 16 units on an acre eliminates any meaningful space, he said.The entire Cline Dahle project is almost 30 acres, but only about half of that is developable because of wetlands in the area. It also has a base density of one unit per 20 acres and does not allow for any commercial development under the existing conditions. Jones said the county intends to amend the neighborhood mixed-use and community commercial zoning district to allow for single-family detached housing under certain conditions, or officials could create a new zoning district to accommodate the work.The Cline Dahle property could have a mix of unit types if the zoning is changed. Many would be attached multifamily residences such as townhomes or stacked apartments, and Jones said at least 15% should be reserved as rentals.He explained the number of renter-occupied housing has dropped since 2020, and it’s now less than 13% of the total number of options. Jones said some of the proposed housing should be restricted to renters to help bring that number back up.“When it comes to the housing makeup within Summit County, we look at owner-occupied units. We look at renter-occupied units. And we look at vacant units. The percentage of renter-occupied units has been falling in recent years,” he said.An estimated 20% of households living on Cline Dahle would have one person, 39% would have two people and 41% would have three people.A large portion of the units, about 40%, would be deed-restricted for people making between 31 and 60% of the area median income. That’s a maximum of $82,620 a year for a family of three.Tyler warned the visionary mix of affordable housing and commercial businesses doesn’t appear to be financially feasible. He wasn’t sure if a few million dollars in subsidies would be needed or tens of millions. He appreciated the aspirational nature of the housing and said it would be a great infill spot, but Tyler said it’s very front-loaded on the developer.Mountainlands Community Housing Trust Executive Director Jason Glidden seemed to agree. He questioned whether the project would be a public-private partnership, similar to what’s been proposed with Dakota Pacific Real Estate at the Park City Tech Center. Glidden said the county needs to make a financial guarantee to the selected developer to ease some of the uncertainty.Jones suggested the county would create a “creative alliance” with the selected application to secure the necessary zoning entitlements, but the developers were confused about what that actually meant. Glidden also warned the County Council about the competitive and restrictive nature of federal grants, which can be used to help pay for the affordable housing. It will also be hard for anyone earning less than 120% of the area median income, or $183,600 for a four-person household, to be able to take the ownership path because of the current interest rates.Craig Elliott with architecture firm Elliott Workgroup encouraged the County Council to reconsider its timeline. He said a quality design could take up to six months to render, longer than the proposed two-month deadline. A project could be implemented by early June under the augmented timeline, which was seen as too aggressive by many.The County Council directed Jones and Community Development Director Peter Parnes to implement the input into the draft request for proposals and circulate it. If everyone is on the same page, it will be approved and issued.The post Developers suggest cutting back density of future Cline Dahle project appeared first on Park Record.