FARMINGTON -- Two Davis County cities have joined with Davis County leaders to help develop a 900-acre plot of land they hope will eventually produce millions of new tax dollars.
The private land, near the 500 South interchange of Legacy Parkway, is considered by officials to be a prime spot for mixed-use development.
Kent Sulser, the Davis County Community and Economic Development director, said public money will be used to put the project into high gear.
"The creation of the Legacy highway ... created a grand opportunity for access," Sulser said.
Split into three adjoining development sections, the property has boundaries that cross into Woods Cross, West Bountiful and unincorporated Davis County land.
Sulser and leaders from the two cities offered to work with the landowners to help develop a master plan for the undeveloped property as a way to smoothly integrate new development into the surrounding neighborhoods.
"We foresee this becoming a gateway to Davis County," said Gary Uresk, Woods Cross city administrator.
It is thought that residential, commercial and light industrial development could all fit within the project's boundaries on the west side of the cities.
On Tuesday, Davis County Commissioners approved the creation of three community development agencies to help with the master planning.
CDAs are a governmental construct; they are separate entities that help with public development of property.
County officials projected that more than $150 million in tax dollars could be generated in a 20-year period from the developed project, which could include a business park. The area currently brings less than $1 million in tax dollars.
Part of the existing and future tax dollars generated from the area, initially estimated to be $65 million, would be directly plowed back into creating infrastructure for the project.
Road, water and sewer services are infrastructure items that might normally be added to the area, but a CDA is likely to quicken the pace, making it more attractive to development that brings in tax dollars to the public coffers.
The cities and private owners could have worked independently, but pooled resources.
"It lends itself to larger tenants, larger opportunities," said Sulser.
He adds they do not have an end user yet for the land, but he believes the CDA will accelerate interest in the project.
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