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Council approves trail easement with Park City School District for High Ute trail alignment; Pine Brook easement discussed
Summary
The council authorized a public-recreation trail easement with Park City School District (part of the High Ute trail alignment) and discussed a second easement with Pine Brook Homeowners Association; the Park City School District easement was approved after a reconsideration vote.
Representatives for Basin Recreation briefed the Summit County Council on June 25 about negotiated trail easements for the High Ute (Hyute) trail alignment. Basin Recreation said it had finalized the alignment with adjacent property owners and secured signed agreements from Park City School District and the Pine Brook Homeowners Association for construction easements; staff sought county authorization to execute public-recreation trail easements for the segments that cross school-district and Pine Brook property.
Basin Recreation described the easement geometry: a 30-foot temporary construction easement with a 20-foot final corridor and a 4-foot single-track trail planned inside the corridor for the school-district portion. Basin staff said Park City School District asked for an alignment that minimized impacts to school parking and facilities; the final design included a route behind Ecker Middle School and a connection to an existing park-and-ride and to Millennium Trail for active-transportation access. Pine Brook easement language was reported as substantially similar but with parcel-specific exhibits.
Council members asked about access, parking and user flow. Basin Recreation said peak trail usage (weekend midday) is temporally separated from school-peak traffic and that the intent is to direct recreational users to existing park-and-ride and Millennium Trail connections rather than school parking. Council members also asked whether the easement language allowed motorized devices; staff said state statute classification for class 1–3 e-bikes means they are generally not treated as motor vehicles and the easement’s non-motorized language would be interpreted with that state law context in mind.
Council member Chris moved to authorize execution of the Park City School District public-recreation trail easement; the council initially voted and then, after a procedural reconsideration, approved the motion on a second vote. The Pine Brook easement was discussed as substantially similar but the final exhibit differed slightly; council members indicated a desire to review the Pine Brook exhibit before authorizing that second easement.
Why it matters: the approved easement clears a key corridor for the High Ute trail and links recreational trail users to existing transit/park-and-ride and active-transportation facilities; the approval also resolves negotiation with two major adjacent landowners.
Follow-up: Basin Recreation and county staff will execute the Park City School District easement and return the Pine Brook agreement with its final exhibit for council approval; construction easements and final construction plans will be recorded after construction alignment is finalized.
