Council weighs public-trail standards and open-space ownership for Far West project

Far West City Council reviewed a red-line provision requiring that "all portions of the public trail shall be hard surfaced to meet the appropriate standards and a minimum of 10 feet wide," and discussed ownership and maintenance of the adjacent open space at the Dec. 5 meeting.

Staff noted the proposed agreement would require the trail improvements to be constructed simultaneously with buildings or road frontage work. Developers reported that portions of the linear open space along the project’s north edge are narrow and would likely total roughly 10 acres of open space within the overall project, but staff said only about 14% of the entire project area is open space under the current concept — below the 20% open-space threshold used in the city’s ICC standard. Council members and staff said landscaping requirements around buildings will add green area, but they expressed concern about dedicating a small, fragmented parcel to the city if the city would then be responsible for low‑utility maintenance visits.

Marriott Slaterville and other developer representatives told council they preferred the owners association (HOA) to maintain some peripheral open-space strips rather than obligate the city to maintain a small, dispersed parcel. Council members said they want the trail itself to be public and connected to the regional pathway system, and stated they would accept HOA maintenance for the smaller peripheral open-space strips if the dedicated 10-foot hard-surfaced trail is publicly owned and tied to the larger network.

No approval action was taken; staff will tighten language about which portions of open space would be dedicated to the city and which would remain with the HOA, and will supply acreage figures on the concept plan before the next review.