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Washington City hires consultant to study recreation around Washington Dome; study funded by state grant
Summary
Avenue Consultants will lead a grant-funded feasibility study — in partnership with the BLM — to explore recreational access, existing trails and public input around Washington Dome; the city will not incur costs for the study at this phase.
Washington City on Wednesday authorized a city-funded, grant-backed feasibility study to assess recreational planning and access around the geologic feature known locally as Washington Dome.
Avenue Consultants, represented at the council workshop by Charice Walker, told the council that the Utah Outdoor Recreation Department is providing grant funding for the study and that Washington City will have no direct cost for the planning phase.
The study area, Walker said, lies south of Washington Dam Road and west of the Southern Parkway and includes a large swath of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and some private parcels. The consultant team plans four steering-committee meetings, a series of stakeholder interviews and public outreach including an online survey and an interactive comment map; the survey will be open through June and the team expects to wrap the feasibility work by year-end.
Why this matters: The area surrounding Washington Dome already draws recreational users, the consultant said, and growth and nearby development make access points, trail connections and stewardship planning timely. The study is intended to recommend improvements that expand recreation while preserving natural landscape values and to produce a plan that the city and the BLM can use for potential next steps such as environmental review and funding applications.
What the study will (and won’t) do: Avenue Consultants emphasized the current phase is planning only. It does not, at this stage, include environmental review (NEPA) or construction funding. The consultant said those steps would come later if the feasibility work shows viable improvements; grant applications for NEPA were already being prepared. The team will coordinate closely with BLM staff: the BLM sits on the project steering committee and participated in the kickoff.
Outreach and data sources: The consultants showed preliminary mapping of existing unpaved trails derived from user-generated data (a voluntary hiking app) and described in-person outreach already conducted at a local Cotton Fest event. The project website (washingtondome.com) hosts the survey and a comment map where users can draw or pin specific geographic requests or concerns.
Private property and access: Council members raised questions about private-property impacts. The consultant noted some parcels inside the study area are private and that proposed formal trails through privately owned parcels would require easements or agreements with owners. The study will include ownership analysis and identify feasibility constraints such as steep slope/hillside regulations and proximity to an existing water-tank project.
Next steps: The consultant said the city and project team will return with interim updates to the council and will pursue state grants to complete environmental review before the city would be expected to fund construction. The council did not take formal action beyond accepting the project briefing.
Speakers quoted: "So there is no cost to the city at this point. We're doing this from grant funding," Charice Walker, Avenue Consultants.
Ending: The study will continue through public engagement this summer; the consultant expects steering-committee meetings and interim updates to the council before the end of 2025.
