A small mountainside community in Emigration Canyon is fighting a commercial development proposal from one of their own neighbors that they worry would exacerbate traffic, environmental damage and fire danger near their homes.
John Walsh, an attorney who owns more than 58 acres of land at the top of Pinecrest Canyon Road, wants to create a gazebo for weddings and parties, two single-lane shooting ranges, a zip-line and a winter sledding hill on about 12 acres of his property.
But during an emotional, three-hour long meeting Thursday of the Emigration Canyon Planning Commission, the more than 20 residents who spoke on Walsh’s proposal during a public hearing urged commissioners to “pump the breaks” on the project.