The cat is out of the bag! Or rather, the gondola has left the base station!
The Utah Transportation Commission voted unanimously on May 15th to approve the purchase of a property near La Callie for $8 million and stated on record that the “property is being purchased for the proposed base station for the gondola.”
This commission is made up of seven individuals who are appointed by Governor Cox then approved by the Utah Senate. So unfortunately these are not elected officials who (in theory) should be beholden to their constituents. The Commission serves “as part of an independent advisory committee. The group prioritizes projects and decides how funds are spent.”
The property UDOT will acquire is currently owned by Quail Run Development LCC, which is managed by CW Management Corp. CW Management belongs to former Utah Senate President Wayne Niederhauser and developer Chris McCandless. CW Management also happens to be one of the Gondola Works stakeholders. Gondola Works is a pro-gondola marketing entity. So you can see how this raises many alarm bells.
Ahead of this meeting, WBA submitted public comment (along with many other organizations, individuals, and public officials) opposing the spending, arguing that UDOT should focus transportation funding exclusively on Phase 1 transit improvements rather than banking land tied to the gondola project.
During the meeting, UDOT Right of Way Director Ross Crow presented the acquisition request. Commissioners questioned why UDOT relied on only a single appraisal, particularly given the discrepancy between the purchase price (~$8 million) and county tax assessment (closer to $4.5 million). UDOT responded that additional appraisals are generally obtained only when there is a dispute with the seller, which they said was not the case here, and the commissioners were satisfied with that answer.
Their argument for acquiring the property now is that it would save taxpayers money. They argued that if this property gets developed with homes or townhouses, then UDOT would still need to acquire the property with eminent domain (the government’s legal power to seize private property for public use without the owner’s consent, provided they pay just compensation). So in their minds, buy the land now for $8 million rather than years from now, when there is multimillion-dollar housing built on the property and thus a higher acquisition cost. They argued this is part of their “fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers.” Which the majority of us Utah taxpayers would loudly argue otherwise! Our concern is not the $8 million, but rather if the gondola is built, it would come at a heavy cost to taxpayers: over a billion (yes billion with a B) dollars and it would service just two private ski resorts.
Let’s be frank, $8 million pales in comparison to the overall project budget. The most troubling fact is that constituents repetitively ask for investments and commitment to phase 1 (enhanced bus) before ANY action is taken relating to phase 3 (the gondola). There was even legislation passed in 2025 to codify the phased approached, with the goal of beholding UDOT to seeing phase through in sequential order:
S.B.195. Section 21, Section 72-1-201
(2) For a proposed transportation project that includes a gondola in the Cottonwood Canyons area of Salt Lake County for which the department has completed an environmental impact statement the department may only construct the project in the phasing sequence as provided in the record of decision associated with the environmental impact statement.
However, the devil lies in the sneaky details. The key word here is construct. Which is how they are able to acquire these lands outside of the phased framework.
Where is this acquisition money coming from? The Corridor Preservation Fund, which is essentially a revolving loan fund that was created by the Utah Legislature in 1996. This allows for state, counties, and municipalities to purchase land in advance for future highway and public transit rights-of-way. So while this $8 million isn’t explicitly tied to UDOT’s LCC EIS spending, it is still related to the proposed gondola.
According to Crow, under the Corridor Preservation Fund, the Commission has the authority to purchase properties for any project on the 30 year long range plan (and beyond), and that if the gondola doesn’t happen, the property would be sold and funds would be put back into the Corridor Preservation Fund. And while approving the purchase does not commit the state to a gondola, the fact that the commissioners stated multiple times that the property could eventually support a gondola base station is concerning. It was also mentioned this property could be used for a future bus transit interchange.
We should note that UDOT previously acquired the adjacent seven acre parcel just to the west.
Despite many concerns raised in the public comments of the meeting, the commission approved the motion to acquire the property unanimously.
We will keep you updated as we learn more about this. If you want to listen to the meeting or review the meeting material, see the links below:
Meeting Recording: Agenda item 7.A: Corridor Preservation – Quail Run Development, Little Cottonwood Canyon Transit, in Cottonwood Height
https://www.youtube.com/live/B6m7salRDGg?si=6gVc2cgFZHMPP26V
Meeting Materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/112ZQVWvcSqfkcuBIgOs4G4hPhf3SlVIC
La Caille Gondola Abbreviated Proposal (June 17,2020): https://skiliftblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/lacaille-gondola-abreviated-proposal-june-17-2020.pdf
