1 county, 2 lifestyles: Summit split with rural east, liberal Park City

The highway cutting through Summit County typifies the schism between the county's eastern agrarian towns and its booming west-side resorts.

The east versus west clash in Summit County pits conservative eastern farming communities against liberal Park City to the west. While the cultures have historically differed, county leaders say the government may be exacerbating the rift by giving more political voice to west siders.

"With the influx of people on the west side, I am concerned that in the future the east side of the county has a voice at the table," County Commissioner Bob Richer said.

Richer, from the Snyderville Basin area on the west side, said he hopes a county-commissioned study can help balance the region by tweaking county government to better represent both sides.

The study, to be conducted by a seven-member resident panel, will evaluate if the current three-member county commission should be replaced by a five- or a seven-member group elected by districts instead of at large.

With only three at-large members in the commission, Richer said, the eastern viewpoint is often lost in county politics because of the region's population disparity. To the west, Park City and the unincorporated Snyderville Basin areas have roughly 22,000 residents, while eastern towns combined have only 5,000 residents.

"There used to be a sort of balance in the county," Richer said." But with the population change, that kind of went by the wayside."

Now, Richer said, the region's differences are highlighted in elections as this past November when east-siders voted overwhelmingly against an open space initiative and the majority of Park City residents voted for it. An anti-gay marriage amendment also fared well in Park City, but was crushed on the county's east side.

"The west side is a more diverse population coming from all parts of the country," Richer said. "It's one of the places in Utah where democrats do have a stronghold — a fingerhold, at least."

The county's current commission includes Richer and Sally Elliot from Park City and Ken Woolstenhulme from Oakley to the east. Although Woolstenhulme represents the east side, resident Eric Easterly said he worries eastern needs may be overlooked in the flurry of development issues in Park City and the Snyderville Basin.

"The people on the east side have different needs for government and different concerns than the west-siders, where people are newer to the area," said Easterly, who chairs the government study panel. "Everyone seems to be interested in a government that's responsive on both the east and west sides."