Asphalt in the Wilderness? Sandy Residents Say No Thank You

Citizens’ opposition convinced officials that they had made a mistake considering bulldozing over a natural, wild path, called the North Rim Trail.

Carey Hamilton

December 1, 2017

Equestrians on the Dimple Dell trail in Sandy which will now remain wild. Photos by Steven Vargo.

Tempers flared earlier this year when some residents learned about so-called improvements to the scenic Dimple Dell Regional Park in southeastern Salt Lake County. When they voted in November for a bond that included $4 million in upgrades for the 650-acre park, the last thing they expected was to hear that the plans included asphalt paving of a 3-mile portion of a trail in the county’s most pristine wilderness setting.

Using the slogan “Keep Dimple Dell Wild,” Monica Zoltanski, founder of the Dimple Dell Preservation Society (DDPC), led the charge to defeat the proposal, gathering more than 6,500 signatures and eventually helped to quash the asphalt pathway she and many others believed would ruin the large open space, popular with equestrian enthusiasts, hikers and others seeking refuge from the surrounding urban build-up.

Today, a task force or “working group,” as Martin Jensen, director of the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation Department, calls it, is finalizing suggestions on how to spend the money, and will give them to Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams in the next few months.

Though controversial and tense at times, the process seems to be moving along smoothly now, albeit a bit slower than some would prefer. But if it weren’t for the efforts of Zoltanski and others, the outcome likely would have been much different.

Jensen said citizens’ opposition and organization convinced him that he and others had made a mistake considering bulldozing over such a natural, wild path, called the North Rim Trail, especially with scant public input.

“We did hear loud and clear that people didn’t want a large, paved trail,” he said. “We want to make sure we do it right. We realized the importance of saving wildlife and realized the value of preserving Dimple Dell. We weren’t hell bent on paving it. And we weren’t trying to slip it under the radar.”

But that’s not how the DDPC and others saw it. “We felt blindsided,” Zoltanski said, noting the lack of public hearings to gather input on how to spend the money. “We felt betrayed in the process. We voted for park maintenance and improvements, not asphalt.”

After being asked more than once about who wrote the language for the paving, Clayton Scrivner, the spokesman for the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation Department, said, “The division proposed it. It was not a single person, if you need a single name you could use the director’s name [Martin Jensen], but that wouldn’t be fully accurate.”

Speculation and confusion were rampant among opponents. Some questioned why so much money would be spent on paving, and if kickbacks or cronyism were involved. Jensen said the entire $4 million was never earmarked for the North Rim Trail, and it wasn’t even put out to bid.

In August, the DDPC drafted 17 priorities for the park, which the group hopes will “protect and promote public appreciation of the park through education about its rare and valuable history, archaeology (some Native American artifacts have been unearthed by Questar Gas), geology, biology and public recreation use.”

In addition to the task force’s work, the county and Sandy city paid a Riverton marketing firm, Lighthouse Research, $14,000 (which Jensen said did not come out of the bond money) to call residents and ask for their preferences and uses of the park.

What happens now is largely up to McAdams, who gets the final say. McAdams said he will take into account the working group’s recommendations and those views of the DDPC and others. Work should begin in spring.

“Dimple Dell was a great opportunity to be responsive to what residents want for their community,” McAdams said. “ . . . we must constantly seek feedback and maintain open dialog. Parks are there for residents to enjoy, and their support makes it possible to build and maintain them.”

Recommended park improvements from the Dimple Dell Preservation Community (DDPC):

· Install picnic tables, benches and tie rails
· Establish year-round restrooms
· Add clean landscape wood chips along trails
· Increase police patrol, code enforcement and animal control
· Remove amphitheater and restore natural hillside
· Build an equestrian staging area at Wrangler and Lone Peak Park trailheads
· Maintain parking lot surfaces at trailheads

To see more of Steven Vargo’s work visit Vargo Photography.

Smart Growth, Utah Stories

Citizen Protest, Dimple Dell Regional Park, Open Space Sandy

Carey Hamilton

Utah Stories

Highway 6 and the Midland Trail: Utah’s Transcontinental Highway History

From Price Canyon to Delta’s desert stretch, Utah played a central role in building the Midland Trail, one of America’s earliest transcontinental highways and the foundation of today’s Highway 6.
Podcast

Whiskey, Bullets & a Buried Town: Archaeologists Reveal Alta’s Wild Past

Before Alta was known for powder days and lift lines, it was a silver mining town clinging to the side of a narrow canyon. In the late 1800s, men lived at 8,000 feet, went underground each day, and endured winters that regularly buried buildings in snow. This past summer, that mining town resurfaced — literally — during construction at the Alta Ski Area.

To understand what Alta really looked like, you don’t begin with legend. You begin with its trash — and this time, that happened almost by accident.

Alta Ski Area was installing underground water reservoirs to support snowmaking. Because the project sits on Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest land, an archaeologist was required to monitor the excavation. No one expected the trench to produce much.

But, It did.

Artifacts began surfacing almost immediately. Enough that the Forest Service contacted the Utah State Historic Preservation Office for help. Lexi Little, who coordinates the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program, helped mobilize nearly 30 volunteers to assist with what quickly became a focused two-week excavation.

Winter deadlines were approaching. The pipes for the reservoirs had to go in the ground. There wasn’t time for a slow, extended dig.

“It was two weeks of digging in the dirt and helping figure out exactly what we were looking at,” Little said.

Most of the people screening soil weren’t professional archaeologists. They were trained stewards from around Utah — part of a statewide volunteer network that now approaches 500 people. They poured dirt through shaker screens, scanning for fragments that could piece together a town long buried.

“Archaeology is human trash,” Little explained. “Archaeologists are very into trash.”

Alta had left plenty behind.

https://youtu.be/hzIHzx3OGoo?si=dKcl2CEz-t6FZzYw

Victorian-style ceramics appeared first — the kind typically used in hotels. Medicine bottles followed. Ink bottles. Hand-blown glass. A porcelain doll’s foot surfaced from the soil, a small detail that shifted the mental image of the town. Families were here. Children were here. This wasn’t only a camp of miners.

The bottles helped establish time. Manufacturing details — whether glass was hand-blown or mold-made, whether a maker’s mark appeared on the base — allowed archaeologists to date many of the artifacts to the 1870s through the 1890s, when Alta was booming as a silver mining town.

“That gives you that range of dates for when Alta was really booming,” Little said.

One reusable soda bottle clearly stamped “Salt Lake City” connected the canyon to the valley economy below.

Then something unusual rolled out of a dirt pile.

A corked bottle. Intact. Liquid still inside.

Continue reading and support independent Utah journalism with a purchase of Utah Stories (Digital + Print) or 3 month free trial (Digital).
Podcast

How Horses Help Kids Heal: Inside Utah’s Equine Therapy World

Kelty Johnson trains horses for a living, but her deeper work happens in the quiet space between animal and human. On the Utah Stories podcast, she explains how equine therapy helps children regulate emotions, build confidence, and reconnect through presence rather than pressure.
Podcast

Angela Brown: The Woman Behind SLUG Magazine and Craft Lake City

Angela Brown is the publisher and owner of SLUG Magazine, one of the city’s longest-running independent publications and a central voice in Utah’s alternative arts and music scene. She is also the founder of Craft Lake City, a nonprofit that has grown into one of the state’s largest platforms for local makers and creative entrepreneurs.