Really?

In Saturday’s Park Record, the attorney for Dakota Pacific, Richard Burbidge stated that “We’ve not done a thing wrong.” I find it interesting that an attorney can make such a blatantly false statement and not be held to some sort of professional accountability.

While he may assert that there is no violation of law in DP’s actions, there is certainly a violation of business ethics and the norms of developer/community relations. When the area in which a business wants to operate (develop) faces overwhelming community opposition, is it ethical to ignore the wishes of those who live in that community and pay the taxes to support it? Is it ethical to solicit support from a few legislators (not from the local area, but with vested interests) to insert directive language at the last minute into a “sign or die” piece of legislation? 

If Mr. Burbidge considers DP’s conduct in this whole affair to be proper, then I suggest that our local representatives propose a law in the next legislative session that overrides local zoning authority in EVERY jurisdiction in the state.

I would also suggest that our own county executives and managers prepare for “bureaucratic guerrilla warfare”: Every permit for any type of site preparation, utilities, building permits, etc., should be delayed for more independent environmental impact studies, more detailed engineering information, loss of submission forms, and eventually denied due to potential traffic and parking impacts on Salt Lake’s Olympic bid. Heavy construction equipment should be banned from all roads leading to the proposed site. And an immediate development moratorium should be enacted by the county due to concerns about long term availability of water in the Wasatch Back.

After all, none of those actions would be “a wrong thing”, would they?

Ken Miller

Park City