Parks from landfills?

Most people don't go to a landfill to have a picnic or throw a Frisbee around, but that's exactly what Salt Lake County planners have in mind for their residents' recreation.

Well, in a way. The county's parks and recreation people favor acquiring rights to the Salt Lake County landfill in southwest Salt Lake City and the TransJordan landfill in West Jordan — as an investment in the future.

The idea is that when the landfills are full, they'll be capped and landscaped and turned into something nice that people can enjoy on their days off.

"Right now they're stinky messes, but they could become very important land uses in the future," parks planning and development director Emery Crook said. "In the past we've shied away from these kinds of issues, but we need to embrace them."

The landfills aren't the only present or former "stinky messes" the county is looking to acquire. According to a new draft master plan for parks and recreation, the Sharon Steel site in Midvale — a former EPA Superfund site — is another possible bit of county greenery.

One of the reasons county people are looking at such sites is that land acquisition for future parks is becoming a huge problem in fast-developing Salt Lake Valley. In several areas — particularly on the east side — it just isn't there to be had, and the amount of park land according to population is less than it should be in almost every area of the county.

"If anything is important in our plan, the land acquisition is the most important of all," Crook said. "We've looked closely, and you'll be surprised how little land there is available."

The west side is a bit of a different animal, with Kennecott Land owning vast swaths of ground there. Kennecott has committed to including open space and parks in its rather deliberately paced development there.

That's good news to County Councilman Randy Horiuchi, who says a great thing to have would be a large regional park — like Sugarhouse Park — just north of the new Kennecott Land development Daybreak in South Jordan.

"I think it really fits well," he said.

Notwithstanding the fact that there's more land available on the west side, that's where planners are looking at the landfill opportunities.

In many areas, "We treat land acquisition in an opportunistic kind of way," Crook said. "We have to wait until land becomes available and then buy it."