Open Space in South Jordan: what the record shows

South Jordan's case is not thin, and most of it is on the record. The city calls providing parks and open space "among one of the City's top strategic initiatives" 1, and "Desirable Amenities & Open Space" is one of five strategic priorities its adopted budget is built around 2. By its own count it holds more than 250 acres of natural open space, most of it along four miles of the Jordan River corridor, held with the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission and the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society as federally protected wetland mitigation and wildlife refuge 34. In 2011 it adopted its Jordan River Corridor Open Space and Habitat Conservation Master Plan as part of the general plan, which found the city code then contained no protection for natural-area open space and the 2007 parks master plan none at all 4. It answered with seven ordinances, including natural-area open space zoning, a no-build floodplain zone, stream setbacks, wetland protection, hillside protection and a ban on hunting and trapping in the corridor 4. Phase 1 of Bingham Creek Regional Park added 65 acres 5. In June the council adopted Resolution R-2026-11, the FY 2026-27 budget, with a dedicated parks fee of $5.28 a month for a single-family home and $3.38 a multifamily unit, restricted to parks, trails, open space and the cemetery 67. Protection, on this record, is real.

The same general plan promises to "preserve open space and agricultural heritage," and its GROW GOAL 6 instructs the city to investigate where farmland and significant open space can be protected; to create and adopt a Rural Open Space Conservation Development floating zone for rural and historic properties; to keep identifying priority properties for natural open space; and to provide for a high percentage of open space by clustering residential development 8. The city's own 2026 council-action notice, current to August 4, lists five zoning ordinances taking land out of agricultural zones: at 11011 S 1055 W (A-1 to R-2.5), 10353 S Temple Drive (A-1 to community commercial), 10981 S Temple Drive (A-1 to R-2.5), 9585 and 9633 S Temple Drive (A-5 to R-2.5) and 3250 W 11400 S (A-5 to R-1.8), each unanimous 9. One came with a general plan amendment moving the future land use map from Agricultural Preservation to Stable Neighborhood, 5-0, on March 3 9. Nothing in that notice is the acquisition of open space, and nothing in it is the floating zone GROW GOAL 6 asked for 9.

Density traded for land did happen, in the other direction. On the west side the council approved a rezone and master development agreement for Shoreline, 191 acres near 7102 W 11800 S, at eight units per acre plus 72 units transferred off the former Glenmoor golf course, with a 20 per cent open-space minimum 10. The agreement defines open space by reference to the city's vested laws, "as may be modified in the Parks, Trails and Open Space Plan" 10. Transfer of development rights is the preservation tool the general plan itself names 8; here it moved density onto 191 acres, not land into the public's hands.

What the city bought this year is smaller than the language. The adopted FY 2026-27 capital budget funds a parks programme of $1,060,000, and its two project pages are a two-acre addition to Jordan Ridge Park at $250,000 and $400,000 to design the Oquirrh Shadows East property; both are paid from Park Impact Fees, which is to say from new development 2. Of the new parks fee, the city's own breakdown gives $0.24 a month to open space and $0.18 to trails out of $5.28 — 42 cents, just under eight per cent — against $1.97 to active parks and $1.48 to capital improvement 6. Staff told the council at adoption the fee would raise "roughly $1 million annually", with about $500,000 of capital tied to the parks master plan 7. The adopted budget books the Parks Fee at $1,600,000 2. Both cannot be right, and the council voted for both.

One more signal points the same way. The city's acreage does not hold still between its own documents: 250 acres of natural open space on its parks page 1, 257 acres in the adopted budget's FY 2025 indicators 2, and 431 acres in the parks-fee guide 6.

Our judgement concerns a decision and its consequence. The South Jordan City Council chose, on June 2, 2026, to fund open space with a line of 24 cents a month, and on the same record to approve five zoning ordinances taking land out of agricultural zones between March and August, while its own projections carry the city from 89,116 residents in 2025 to 106,527 by 2030 and 156,476 by 2050 6911. At that pace, protecting open space is not acquiring it, and the record shows the city doing the first. Four things would change our mind: adopt the Rural Open Space Conservation Development floating zone the general plan promised; put an open-space acquisition line in the budget with dollars in it; publish a council-action notice listing the purchase of open space instead of another rezoning of farmland; and settle on one acreage figure the city uses everywhere. Until then, South Jordan's open-space policy is a promise about the land it already has.

Sources:

1 South Jordan City, "Parks & Trails" — the city's own count of its parks, trails and natural open space, and its description of parks and open space as among the City's top strategic initiatives. https://sjc.utah.gov/224/Parks-Trails

2 City of South Jordan, "Annual Budget, Fiscal Year 2026-2027" — the adopted FY 2027 budget: the Parks department summary, the FY 2025 parks and open space indicators, the Parks Fee revenue line of $1,600,000, the FY 2026-27 capital programme with Parks Projects of $1,060,000, and the two parks project pages for the Jordan Ridge Park addition ($250,000, Park Impact) and the Oquirrh Shadows Park East design ($400,000, Park Impact). https://www.sjc.utah.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/723

3 South Jordan City, "Open Space" — over 250 acres of open space, its concentration along the Jordan River corridor, its federal protection and closure to public access, and the Mystic Springs Wetland Educational Area and its two grants. https://sjc.utah.gov/232/Open-Space

4 South Jordan City, "Jordan River Corridor Open Space and Habitat Conservation Master Plan and Management Guidelines" (K.A. Smith Consulting, 2011), adopted as part of the City General Plan — the plan's finding that the 2007 parks master plan and the city code then contained no natural-area open-space protection, and the seven ordinances it produced. https://sjc.utah.gov/DocumentCenter/View/338/Open-Space-Master-Plan-PDF

5 South Jordan City, "Park Master Plan" — Phase 1 of Bingham Creek Regional Park, 65 acres, and its amenities. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/626/Park-Master-Plan

6 South Jordan City, "Investing in South Jordan Parks" — the Parks Fee approved in the FY 2026-2027 budget, its single-family and multifamily rates, the itemised monthly breakdown including $0.24 for open space and $0.18 for trails, and the FAQ's park, open space, trail and tree totals. https://sjc.utah.gov/1722/Investing-in-South-Jordan-Parks

7 Citizen Portal, "South Jordan council adopts 2026-27 budget and a new parks fee to fund maintenance and capital work," June 2, 2026 — the adoption of the FY 2026-27 budget and the parks fee, staff's estimate of roughly $1 million annually, the $500,000 of parks master plan capital, and the roll-call adoption of Resolution R-2026-11. https://citizenportal.ai/articles/8377929/Utah/Salt-Lake-County/South-Jordan/South-Jordan-City-Council/South-Jordan-council-adopts-2026-27-budget-and-a-new-parks-fee-to-fund-maintenance-and-capital-work

8 City of South Jordan, "General Plan — Plan Together, Grow Together" (2020) — the vision statement's commitment to preserve open space and agricultural heritage, GROW GOAL 6 and its strategies GrG6.1 to GrG6.7 including the Rural Open Space Conservation Development floating zone, and GROW GOAL 8's reference to transfer of development rights. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/municipalcodeonline.com-new/southjordan/plan/documents/1693235603_South%20Jordan%202020%20General%20Plan%20With%20Appendix_Reduced.pdf

9 South Jordan City, "2026 Recent Council Action — Ordinance & Resolution Adoption Certification," current to August 4, 2026 — the five zoning ordinances rezoning property out of agricultural zones, Resolution R2026-05 amending the future land use map from Agricultural Preservation to Stable Neighborhood, Resolution R2026-11 adopting the budget, and the recorded votes. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12507

10 South Jordan City, "Shoreline Master Development Agreement" and Planning Commission report, Oct. 24, 2023 — the 191-acre rezone, eight units per acre plus 72 transferred units, and the 20 per cent open-space requirement and its definition. https://mccmeetingspublic.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/sojordanut-meet-09c6609fe0f34279804a320639d7360b/ITEM-Attachment-001-dbb07a18d2e440ba8d2beb1d526b8e2e.pdf

11 South Jordan City, "South Jordan Water Element" (2025) — the city's population of 89,116 in 2025, 77 per cent growth since 2010, and the projections to 106,527 by 2030 and 156,476 by 2050. https://water.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/South-Jordan-Water-Element.pdf