Now known as Firefly, the Pole Canyon Mater Development Plan was approved in 2010 and has since been revised. During the City Council meeting on June 20, developers presented the new plan to the council for approval. Their presentation stated that Firefly is “A master-planned community designed around parks, trails and open space providing our kids a reason to put down their devices.”

Council members were in unanimous agreement that Firefly is a better outcome than the original Pole Canyon Master Development Plan, which consisted of additional housing instead of a large amount of open space. However, they also agreed it still needed modification. The developers expressed their concern about the delay of approval for the plan as the next City Council meeting to discuss and potentially approve the modifications isn’t until July 18.

The City Council agreed to hold a separate meeting to discuss the modifications and the decision for the new plan before the next official meeting. The meeting to discuss the modifications and the decision to approve the new plan will be held July 5. It will be open to the public.

The changes in the new plan include doubling parks, trails and open space from 170 to 350 acres. This change resulted in removing 869 homes and shifting 33.5% of homes from west to east of Highway 73. Multifamily homes were reduced by 46% and single-family detached homes were increased by 62%. In addition, the presentation stated this plan “introduces a funding mechanism that requires the developer to pay for master infrastructure at no risk to Eagle Mountain City.”

Several residents attended last week’s meeting to comment in person and others sent in comments online. One person spoke out against the development, but the rest expressed that the development will be a positive addition to the city.

“Approve Firefly,” Eagle Mountain resident Kevin Wilson said. “As a resident of White Hills, I believe Firefly best represents the way of life of those who live there and the reason to move there to begin with.”

Another resident, Adam Clark, said the new proposal “brings value to the whole city.” He added, “There is not a city out there who wouldn’t love to have this kind of development in their city.”

The council and developers spent roughly three hours discussing the approval of these items. Several council members brought concerns to the attention of the developers that they said needed to be fixed before they would approve the new plan. However, the council also generally expressed support for the plan.

“When I see a development like this, this is so much better than Daybreak because it really does make a serious attempt to reflect the Eagle Mountain standards and the Eagle Mountain vision with that open space that is so important to all our residents, but most especially the youth growing up here,” Mayor Tom Westmoreland said.

The changes that need to be made include specific details on the wording in the plan that made some of the council members hesitant to approve it during that meeting.

“I feel like we are on the cusp of something really great,” council member Brett Wright said, “but I’m just going to state it how I see it. If I’m asked to approve it exactly as it is today, I am not going to be able to get there. But I want to get there.”

Some of the main concerns were taxation authority, incongruity with current city zoning, property for Alpine School District and more. Any other changes to the plan can be observed during the future meeting.

“They are completely rewriting our code custom for them, which means they do not have to follow the city code,” council member Colby Curtis said.