South Jordan's parks plan sets a standard for park land and none for open space

South Jordan's case for its open-space record is not thin. The city maintains about 185 acres of the roughly 320-acre Jordan River corridor of publicly owned and preserved open space — federally protected wetland mitigation held with the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission and the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society, and closed to public access 12. Open-space preservation drew among the highest allocations in the resident survey behind the city's 2025 plan 3. The Rio Tinto/Kennecott annexation requires at least 25 per cent open space in the new community, and the Shoreline agreement at least 20 per cent 3. Daybreak is to dedicate roughly 183 acres along Bingham Creek to the city by easement or fee title 3. On June 2, 2026 the council gave parks something new: a dedicated fee, $5.28 a month on a single-family home, restricted by ordinance to parks, trails, open space and the cemetery 4.

The document that settles the question about acquisition is the city's own master plan, which this page had not read when we argued on Oct. 7 that South Jordan protects open space rather than acquiring it. Its text computes the city's existing level of service at 3.7 park acres per 1,000 residents — 326.4 acres divided by 89,116 people — and then recommends that South Jordan 'maintain its LOS of 3.1 acres per 1,000 residents' 3. That is below the ratio the plan had just measured, and below Bluffdale's 4.5 and Sandy's 3.8 on the plan's own table of 15 Utah cities, where South Jordan sits ninth 3. At 3.1, 2050 needs 472.8 acres of park land; the city already has 150.4 acres of planned parks, so the plan books 'additional park acres to be acquired and developed to meet LOS: 0' 3.

For open space the plan sets no standard at all, and says so: 'There is no standardized LOS or similar assessment tool for determining optimal open space provision. Most cities typically acquire such spaces opportunistically' 3. Its instruction is that the city 'acquire additional open space as opportunities arise'. Goal 3 is to 'increase the amount of natural open space in the city', and the measure that would do it — acquiring land that preserves natural drainages, habitat and viewsheds — is scored a HIGH priority in the plan's action plan and carries no probable cost 3. The plan's total probable cost through 2050 is $70,304,850: $38,154,850 parks, $31,870,000 trails, $250,000 wayfinding signs. No line buys land 3.

The fee the council adopted matches that plan. Of the $5.28 a month, $1.97 goes to active parks, $0.96 to neighbourhood parks, $1.48 to capital projects, $0.23 to forestry, $0.21 to the cemetery — and 24 cents to open space, with 18 cents to trails 4. The plan and the fee are one evening's work: on July 15, 2025 the council adopted the master plan by Resolution R2025-27 and, at the same meeting, adopted the parks impact fee ordinance, resolving to take 'a conservative approach' and assess fees 'less than might otherwise be justified ... to promote economic development, expand the tax base, [and] allow for more job creation' 56. The same ordinance records that 'construction of park facilities can lag behind development without impeding continued development activity' 6.

The numbers the city publishes do not hold still. Its open-space page and its parks page say 'over 250 acres' 12; the 2025 plan and the FY 2026-2027 budget both say 257 acres 38; the parks fee guide says 431 acres 4. The impact-fee analysis behind the fee counts 127.20 city-owned acres of open space, or 1.42 acres per 1,000 residents 6. Trails disagree too: more than 9 miles on the parks page, 20.8 in the plan (17.3 regional and 3.5 local), and 33 in the fee guide 234.

Our judgement concerns decisions and what followed. The South Jordan City Council adopted the 2025 Parks, Open Space, Recreation and Trails Master Plan on July 15, 2025 5, and between March and August this year approved five ordinances taking land out of agricultural zoning at 11011 S 1055 W, 10353 and 10981 S Temple Drive, 9585 and 9633 S Temple Drive and 3250 W 11400 S, each by 4-0 or 5-0, with no open-space purchase in its own certification 9. That certification runs only to Aug. 4 9. The council heard the west side's gap in March, when Council Member Tamara Zander raised residents west of Mountain View Corridor with fewer nearby city park amenities and Council Member Jason McGuire asked how the fee would read to Daybreak households already paying an association assessment for parks 7. The council did not depart from its plan. It adopted a plan that sets a standard for park land, none for open space, prices no acquisition and books zero acres to be bought, and then kept to it.

Four things would change our mind. Set an open-space acquisition target — an acreage, or a level of service like the one the plan gives parks — since the plan's own text says no such standard exists 3. Use one of the eight acquisition tools the plan itself lists, land banking or a conservation easement rather than another developer dedication, and publish the acreage and the price 3. Attach a cost to the acquisition measure the plan scores HIGH, or state plainly that South Jordan will never buy open space and will take only what developers give 3. And settle on one acreage and one trail mileage for the plan, the budget, the fee guide and the website 2348.

Sources:

1 South Jordan City, 'Open Space' — the city's count of more than 250 acres of open space, its cooperation with the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission and the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society, and its statement that the land is federally protected and not accessible to the public. https://sjc.utah.gov/232/Open-Space

2 South Jordan City, 'Parks & Trails' — more than 35 city parks, more than 9 miles of trails and 250 acres of natural open space. https://sjc.utah.gov/224/Parks-Trails

3 City of South Jordan, 'Parks, Open Space, Recreation & Trails Master Plan 2025' (Landmark Design, with Y2 Analytics and LRB Public Finance Advisors) — the level of service analysis (326.4 acres, 89,116 residents, 3.7 park acres per 1,000) and its 3.2 diagram, the recommendation to maintain 3.1 acres per 1,000, the comparison of 15 Utah cities, Table 2.3's 150.4 acres of planned parks, Table 2.4's zero acres to be acquired, the statement that there is no standardized optimal open space provision and that most cities acquire opportunistically, Goal 3 and its uncosted HIGH-priority acquisition measure, the $70,304,850 total probable cost, the 257 acres of public open space, the Jordan River corridor's 320 acres with 185 managed by the city, the 183 acres to be dedicated at Bingham Creek, the 2,285-acre Rio Tinto annexation at 25 per cent open space, the Shoreline agreement at 20 per cent, and the eight open space acquisition tools. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/640/Parks-Recreation-Trails-and-Open-Space-M

4 South Jordan City, 'Investing in South Jordan Parks' — the Parks Fee breakdown (active $1.97, neighbourhood $0.96, capital $1.48, forestry $0.23, cemetery $0.21, open space $0.24 and trails $0.18 of $5.28), and the fee guide's totals of 161 acres of active parks, 160 acres of neighbourhood parks, 431 acres of open space and 33 miles of trails. https://sjc.utah.gov/1722/Investing-in-South-Jordan-Parks

5 South Jordan City Council, meeting agenda executive summary, July 15, 2025 — Resolution R2025-27, adopting the 2025 South Jordan Parks, Open Space, Recreation, and Trails Master Plan; the 2017 predecessor plan; and the Landmark Design and Y2 Analytics update process. https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/1297837.pdf

6 City of South Jordan, Ordinance 2025-12, adopting an amended and updated Parks and Recreation Impact Fee Facilities Plan and Impact Fee Analysis — the council's stated conservative approach and intent to assess fees less than the maximum justified to promote economic development, expand the tax base and allow for more job creation; Table 4.3's land value assumptions of $350,000 an acre for developed park land and $85,000 an acre for open space; Table 5.1's 127.20 city-owned acres of open space at 1.42 acres per 1,000 residents; and the finding that construction of park facilities can lag behind development without impeding it. https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/1294429.pdf

7 South Jordan City Council budget meeting minutes, March 17, 2026 — Council Member Zander on residents west of Mountain View Corridor who have fewer city park amenities nearby, Council Member McGuire on Daybreak households already paying association assessments for parks and open space, and staff's account that the master plan identified utility fees as a long-term funding source for park infrastructure. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11952/03-17-2026-South-Jordan-City-Council-Budget-Meeting-Minutes

8 City of South Jordan, 'Annual Budget, Fiscal Year 2026-2027' — the FY 2025 parks indicators of 326.4 public park acres and 257 acres of public open space, the Parks Projects capital line of $1,060,000, and the Parks Fee revenue line of $1,600,000. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/723

9 South Jordan City, '2026 Recent Council Action — Ordinance & Resolution Adoption Certification,' current to August 4, 2026 — the zoning ordinances taking land out of agricultural zones at 11011 S 1055 W, 10353 S Temple Drive, 10981 S Temple Drive, 9585 and 9633 S Temple Drive, and 3250 W 11400 S, with their recorded 4-0 and 5-0 votes. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12507