The Utah Department of Transportation recently paid $8 million for a property that could be used for the Cottonwood gondola. The decision to buy the land from Quail Run Development LLC, a company managed by former Sandy City councilmember Chris McCandless and former Utah Senate president Wayne Niederhauser, has drawn scrutiny from residents and elected officials.
Some local leaders have questioned the purchase price. Cottonwood Heights Mayor Gay Lynn Bennion challenged the valuation, suggesting the property was worth approximately half the amount paid. In response, UDOT defended the appraisal, stating the investment would be more cost-effective than using eminent domain to acquire the land in the future.
An appraisal obtained through an open records request revealed the use of extraordinary assumptions. The document assumed the land is free from contaminants, despite noting the property was previously part of a superfund program to clean soil containing arsenic and lead. While a top UDOT official stated the area was removed from the EPA’s National Priorities List in 2018, the EPA has not declared the site ready for development and has noted it may still pose a human health risk.
Chris McCandless stated that his company commissioned an environmental study in 2020 which found no significant environmental concern due to soil remediation. However, EPA information indicates that due to updated lead guidance, there may be insufficient data to determine if the site is free of lead-contaminated soil until 2029. The EPA has also suggested that nearby residents consider annual lead exposure testing for children.
UDOT project manager for the Cottonwood Canyons, Devin Weder, noted that if the gondola project receives funding, the agency could conduct further site investigations to determine if additional remediation is necessary. Weder stated that the area had been cleared by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Critics, such as Bob Douglass of Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon, expressed concern that the deal benefits politically connected developers at the taxpayers' expense. Douglass argued that if the land were developed for homes, developers would have to disclose contamination risks and pay for cleanup, costs that UDOT is now absorbing through this purchase.
While McCandless maintains that the gondola project is the safest and most environmentally friendly option for managing canyon congestion, the long-term environmental status of the purchased land remains a point of contention between state officials and federal environmental agencies.
