The Black Rock Mountain Resort, a condo hotel development at the corner of Browns Canyon and S.R. 248, was granted a $14.17 million public infrastructure district agreement by Wasatch County Council last week.

Prior to the decision, councilors received concerns from property owners at the resort who were worried they’d be affected by Black Rock’s decision.

“The Black Rock Mountain Resort applied in May of this year for a PID to issue bonds against the property,” County Manager Grabau said. 

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According to meeting documents, the debt is to be repaid in the future through “an additionally assessed property tax of 10 mills or 1%.”

The funds will “be used for earthwork and retaining walls, culinary water, sanitary sewer, irrigation, storm drain, street improvements, parking, event center” and a storm water pollution prevention plan, though the $14.17 million will not cover the entirety of these expenses.

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According to an economic impact study that Black Rock Mountain Resort’s attorney Russell Skousen cited, the agreement will mean $700 million in tax dollars to the county over the life of the bonds. 

“I think everything is pretty much in line with our ordinance,” Councilor Steve Farrell said regarding the
Black Rock proposition. “Maybe we ought to address some of the complaints that came and why they were complaining.”

Grabau said at least some of the public concerns the county received were spurred out of confusion over which properties would be included in the district and which would be exempt.

Per state law, each property owner within the public infrastructure district had to be on board.

“There are portions of the Black Rock resort that are already owned by other entities outside of the petitioners, and those properties would not be subject to any increased property taxes.”

Farrell asked why there was so much confusion.

Skousen took a crack at the question.

“There’s a map of the project that shows the entire project,” he said, “but in the description, it says it includes this and doesn’t include that, and there is no property owner that is a third-party owner that is included in any way in this petition for a PID. … This is common throughout the state when you have projects that have buildings that can be owned individually. In those units, we just expressly exclude them.”

Grabau added that, as far as he understood, there would be no legal way for the resort to force property owners within the development to become part of the infrastructure district without their consent.

Farrell wondered if this meant people would reap the benefits of the agreement without seeing the tax increases.

“Is any of the common area or common amenities that they depend on included in it?” Farrell asked.

“No, because the common areas areas are not individually parceled,” Skousen said. “To the extent that a unit owner has an undivided interest in the common areas, there’s not really a way to get at those common areas except through the unit itself.”

Farrell said if he owned a unit, he wasn’t sure he would appreciate someone mortgaging the public pool he thought he’d be able to use.

Skousen told him each owner understands “they join what we call Club Black Rock to access the pool and those sorts of things.” 

The amenities, he said, are remaining under the ownership of the resort itself. 

Councilors also expressed concerns that the project might not be publicly accessible, which would make them hesitant to approve a public infrastructure district.

Skousen said the venue can be used for a variety of events from concerts and rodeos to political gatherings and graduations, and Grabau said the finished resort will include bars and restaurants.

Though they did not come to a specific agreement of what hours what things will be available to the public or how much they might cost — something Black Rock Mountain Resort representatives said isn’t common language in a public infrastructure district — the council members present unanimously voted to approve the agreement. Councilor Kendall Crittenden wasn’t in attendance. Before the vote, Grabau said the council could return to the issue to iron out details if they need to.

Black Rock Mountain Resort was approved in May 2015 and opened in February 2021. There are currently 89 completed condo units, and there will be 200 units once the resort is complete. It will also host bars, restaurants and — notably — an ice rink that meets the National Hockey League’s standards.