Zoning is a weak tool for land use planning. It’s all we’ve got, really, in a state where the rights of land developers reign supreme, and the expectations of existing land owners to maintain the status quo don’t matter much. The highest and best use is always a sale to Ivory Homes.    Not even the local governments, who write the codes, seem willing to rely on their own zoning. Every code has special exemptions and surprises built into it, and when those aren’t good enough to get to the desired, though seemingly proscribed, outcome, there are specially planned areas, development agreements, and subjective bonuses for “community benefits.” The basic zoning is more of a suggestion than a mandate. A big enough project can sometimes form its own town, or get the Legislature to take control.Wasatch County just approved a 75 -foot-tall “golf lodge” in SkyRidge, where the zoning code says the allowable building height is about half of that. If somebody bought a lot thinking that zoning would protect their views from development on the other side of the fence, well, sorry.  SkyRidge is part of MIDA. The extra height is for the troops, in the same twisted logic that multi-million dollar ski-in lots featuring “hyper-wellness modalities” at Mayflower support military preparedness. The LDS temple in Wasatch County was also approved through a special “legislative development agreement” process, which is a zone change for a single plot of land without calling it that.In 1973, a bank robbery in Stockholm failed. The police were on the scene before the robber could get away. He took four bank employees hostage and locked them in the bank’s vault for six days while he negotiated the release of a friend from prison and his own safe exit from the bank. When the hostages were freed, they refused to testify against their captor. Then they started raising funds for his legal defense. That’s a strange story that ended with the phenomenon being called “Stockholm Syndrome.” Which leads us to Dakota-Pacific.The lines there have become so blurred in the case of Dakota-Pacific that it’s no longer clear who is hostage and who is captor. Summit County and the developer have been at it for so long that the distinction between the regulator and regulated has completely vanished. The county is literally proposing to help fund the development nobody wants in a proposed “public-private partnership.” I guess it’s better than a generation of litigation, but a close call.The current plan, which seems likely to be approved, has 750 units of primary residential, 250 of which are deed-restricted “affordable” units. There will be 350,000 square feet of commercial space that will create a demand for more employees than can live in the 250 affordable units. The commercial is office, retail, and some form of assisted living or senior housing, which we need. There will also be between 600 and 800 parking spaces. That’s quite a range, and given the cost of building underground parking, it’s a lot of cash. I can’t tell if that  is 600 spaces above what the project itself needs, or they are pretending that everybody will sell their cars and ride the bus.   Phasing is tied to UDOT’s scheduling of physical improvements to Kimball Junction, another large chunk of public cash. Overall, it seems like an improvement over an office park for which there was no demand because the office workers can’t afford to live here and work from home now anyway. There’s no hotel, less commercial, and a legitimate attempt at addressing our housing problems. Is it an improvement over the present jack rabbit habitat? Probably not.The plan includes demolishing the relatively new, and perfectly functional Richins Building and Transit Center, to be replaced with a huge garage. There is a plaza area that is supposed to be so exciting that harried commuters will happily dump their cars in the garage so they can vibrate on the vibrant plaza while waiting for a bus to come for the last leg of their commute.  There will be a bridge to connect the asphalt wasteland at Walmart to the asphalt wasteland at Smith’s across the sea of stalled traffic on 224. Take note that every time somebody says “vibrant,” a planner gets to sniff a Magic Marker.The planners believe that there is something that can be salvaged at Kimball. If only we had the right kind of pavers or a few more benches, it would develop a sense of place. I see it as a completely necessary but utilitarian area — a freeway interchange that needs to move a whole lot more cars than it comfortably does now, the ugly big box retail that we all hate at the same time we patronize it because the parking is easy.  So much of the discussion seems like we are trying to zhuzh up the mechanical room in the house without producing any more heat. No matter how many rhinestones you glue on it, the furnace is still just a furnace. If the new DP development can be made more appealing or vibrant (sniff) than what’s around it, great. It’s a low bar. The reciprocal hostage standoff between the county and Dakota-Pacific seems to be drawing to a bloodless conclusion. Maybe we can learn how to avoid a repeat performance. Skol.Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986.The post More Dogs on Main: Stockholm-Pacific syndrome appeared first on Park Record.