After months of push back from the surrounding communities, the Olympia Hills development has been given a green light to proceed.
The Salt Lake County Council voted to approve the project Tuesday night.
The plan calls for more than 6,000 homes on 933 acres west of Herriman.
After an hour of public comment, the council voted six to three to approve the development.
Councilmember Steve DeBry represents the area where the new homes will be built.
He criticized others on the council for failing to listen to the public outcry.
"I know some of you are looking at me and shaking your head. A few of you are looking down and turning your head like they don`t care what Steve says and that`s fine," DeBry said. "That`s fine, but I hope you still heard, my friend, what I'm saying, because it impacts people, big time."
Corey Shupe, with the Olympia Hills development team, said the approved plan is a far cry from what the original proposal called for.
"We've done a lot of compromising already," Shupe said. "As you heard we dropped the density a full third from nearly 10,000 down to just over 6,000 and there have been other compromises and a lot of studies."
Former Salt Lake County Mayor, Ben McAdams vetoed an earlier version of the plan.
Current Salt Lake County Mayor, Jenny Wilson, issued a lengthy statement explaining why she will not veto the proposal:
"The Olympia Hills re-tooled application process has been lengthy and rigorous, resulting in a much-improved proposal. I want to thank the many residents who engaged throughout the process. When a property owner submits a development proposal to Salt Lake County for consideration, we seek to both honor private property rights as well as address impacts on the community. After months and months of negotiations between the developer and county planning staff, I believe this proposal is as strong as it can be. The agreement requires additional controls in the future and as the project rolls out over the next 25 years, we will see a planned community that contains parks, open space, and commercial areas that create jobs and shopping areas for nearby residents. The alternative to Olympia Hills is continued sprawl. Piece-meal development does not provide for mitigation efforts and will result in higher infrastructure costs, loss of valuable open space, increased transportation and travel costs, and a negative impact on quality of life. For these reasons, I will not veto the proposal. Again, my thanks to all who have engaged in this process."
