Why is Cline Dahle Under the Economic Development arm of Summit County?

We were doing research on Cline Dahle and noticed something strange.For those not familiar, Cline Dahle is the land between Jeremy Ranch Elementary and Burt Brothers that Summit County bought for over $3 million and intends to put transit-oriented affordable housing on.

What seems odd is that it appears to be under the purview of Jeff Jones, and the economic development arm of Summit County. Typically land used would be handled by Pat Putt and the Community Development (planning) group.

We have nothing against Mr Jones and generally feel he does a good job; however, it is a little strange that this area appears to be deemed “his.” This week Mr Jones was on KPCW discussing the area. During the County Council meeting on the topic he presented alongside the consultants studying the area. Finally, the county web page shows that the project seems to fall under Mr Jones:

Our question is why this area falls under Economic Development and not Community Development. There is a big difference. Community Development handles our general county wide planning, Community Development attempts to reconcile all the individual pieces, works with the Planning Commissions (Snyderville or East Side) to ensure that developments meet our overall goals, and try to guide an overall concept.

This just seems a little odd. We’re not quite sure what to make of it.