Summit County buys Highland Flat to preserve open space near I-80

Summit County used $3.2 million in public money to buy the 25-acre Highland Flat parcel near the U.S. 40 and Interstate 80 interchange, a move county officials say will protect neighbors from new development pressure and keep future growth headed to other parts of the county. The land had been linked to a controversial housing proposal, but the county moved quickly to close the deal and secure a site it viewed as better suited to buffering and conservation than dense construction.

Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby said the purchase closed in about 30 days and was paid for with the county’s 2021 voter-approved $50 million general obligation bond for open space. She said Highland Flat had already been identified in the county General Plan for open space and recreation rather than high-density housing, which made it an obvious target once it came onto the market.

The county worked with the Catholic Church, the former owner, to keep the land as a horse pasture and avoid a new round of development pressure on a parcel visible from one of the county’s busiest transportation corridors. The site sits in a spot where officials see public acquisition as a way to preserve the rural character residents and visitors encounter as they move between communities.

Kirby framed the purchase as part of a broader countywide strategy, not just a Park City-area land play. She said the county wants to steer more intense development toward places where growth already makes sense, while protecting open land in communities such as Kamas, Oakley, Francis and Peoa, which are facing increasing pressure from expansion.

County officials have not decided whether Highland Flat will get amenities, but they have discussed possibilities including a dog park, a trail connection from Silver Creek to Silver Creek Village, or another kind of community benefit space. The parcel is also being considered alongside other county conservation efforts, including the 910 Cattle Ranch recreation planning work in Jeremy Ranch.

For Summit County, the Highland Flat purchase is another example of using public land policy to shape where growth happens and where it does not. By buying the parcel before private development could lock in a new pattern, the county gained a buffer for nearby residents and reinforced its wider strategy of concentrating growth in selected areas instead of allowing every open tract near a highway corridor to fill in.