The long wait is over—residents near 13800 South and Mountain View Corridor in Herriman at last have a park that was first conceived over three years ago. Phase one of Mountain Ridge Park, located at 13800 S. Greenford Lane, opened officially on Sept. 4 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Herriman’s Mayor Lorin Palmer and other city officials. 

“Mountain Ridge Park provides much-needed space for organized sports and gives residents in that part of Herriman a nearby playground and open area for recreation,” City Communications Manager Jonathan LaFollette said. “It’s an important addition to our system of parks and gathering spaces.”

Mountain Ridge is the city’s second all-abilities park. (Photo courtesy Herriman City)

The 9.6-acre space is all-inclusive, meaning playground equipment was designed to accommodate children with diverse abilities; climbing structures, slides, swings and other features are accessible for all patrons. 

Mountain Ridge is Herriman’s second all-abilities playground beside L & L Hamilton Park on 6400 West. 

Restrooms at the park came prefabricated from Texas, and once on site, the restroom building was positioned using a crane, after which plumbing was connected. 

Mountain Ridge is also the second park in Herriman to use prefabricated restrooms, along with the Juniper Canyon east trailhead. 

Park visitors will also enjoy benches, a pavilion, tables, a walking trail and an ample parking lot. Sections of the park near the parking lot and the playground also include water-efficient landscaping. 

The park offers benches for tired parents. (Photo courtesy Herriman City)

In addition, the city has planted a vast area of grass that will be usable for organized sports in the spring. “We know we need programmable space, flat space for team sports. That part's not open yet… but it’s going to be great,” Palmer said. 

Several years ago, the city solicited input from the surrounding community about park amenities. “[The city said] here are all the possibilities… [We asked] what do you want, and we'll try to prioritize accordingly,” LaFollette said. 

Some residents have expressed frustration that the park doesn’t reflect what was shown by early conceptual designs. “As someone who lives very close to the park, I’m disappointed in how it’s turning out very, very different… from the plans that were shared,” Herriman resident Krista Flinders commented on Facebook. The 2022 concept design included a dog park, sports courts, a climbing wall, a mural art wall and stepped seating areas.

Park patrons may enjoy picnic tables under a pavilion. (Photo courtesy Herriman City)

“We've been trying to emphasize this is phase one based on funding,” Palmer said. “There could be more to come, of course, down the road.”

“There's been some conversation about this park… ‘we thought we were getting this list of amenities,’ and it ends up being this list of amenities,” LaFollette said. “We had to… pull back on some of the original vision of the park because we could no longer afford to do the amenities we hoped we [could] in phase one, based on funding sources changing. But we hope to do more later.”

“Costs have escalated… We've seen [tremendous] inflation… that's affected all of our projects out here,” Palmer said. 

Though the city hopes to eventually expand and improve the park, there are currently no solidified plans or timelines for future phases. 

“It will depend on available funding… and how this project compares to other priorities across the community,” LaFollette said. “Rather than the city using impact fees paid by builders to compensate for the costs of new infrastructure, public infrastructure districts are increasingly being used by developers as a funding method for new roads, water lines, parks and sewer lines within new developments.”

The bathrooms at Mountain Ridge Park were prefabricated in Texas. (Photo courtesy Herriman City)

 PIDs bypass the city’s finances entirely and can result in a faster timeline for new infrastructure. 

However, the city realized several years ago that impact fee revenue would decrease in the coming years as PIDs are used more frequently. As a result, the city has scaled down some projects that were initially going to be funded with impact fees, such as Mountain Ridge Park.

“It became clear that the scope of planned projects—especially for parks and trails—was beyond what impact fees alone could cover,” LaFollette said.

A local governing entity must approve a PID, which covers a designated geographical area, before a developer may use one. The district sells bonds to investors to cover construction costs up front, and the PID can then fund public infrastructure within the designated area. Developers, builders and future property owners in the development’s geographical area then pay additional fees or property taxes over time to repay the PID.

“That’s not to say… projects [funded by impact fees] won’t happen—it may just take longer and require more phases to fit within available funding,” the city said via its Facebook page.