ST. GEORGE — During Hurricane City’s planning commission meeting this week, residents will have the opportunity to provide input on a proposed $3 billion development.
Dubbed the Cove Project, a developer plans to bring an outdoor theater with 1,200 seats and an amusement area to Hurricane. The proposed development sits on 351 acres right next to Sky Mountain Communities, a retirement community surrounding Sky Mountain Golf Course.
According to the site plan for the “Lost Trails at the Cove” development, the plans for the project include an “Old West Town” complete with shops and restaurants, an RV park and more.
Speaking to the Hurricane City Council last month, developer Jim Thomas characterized Lost Trails as “a family-friendly and Disney-style project.”
The proposed project has some Hurricane residents concerned, specifically those who live in Sky Mountain Communities. Chuck Fletcher, a member of Sky Mountain Communities Home Owners Association, told St. George News he’s worried about the development bringing an increase in traffic, noise, pollution and crime.
“There’s no question that it will affect our area,” Fletcher said.
According to Sky Mountain HOA’s website, there are some other concerns about the development, including:
- An increase in traffic and strangers for children who attend Valley Academy Charter School and Hurricane Elementary School.
- 600 North having to be expanded to four lanes.
- Negative impacts on property value.
Besides holding an HOA meeting last week, which Fletcher said more than 100 people attended, Sky Mountain HOA also created a petition asking the city to reject the proposed zoning changes.
Read more: Developer says he’s sensitive to Hurricane residents’ concerns about proposed Old West town
A video about the Cove Project can be viewed on YouTube.
The planning commission meeting will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, located at 147 N. 870 West, Hurricane.
Editor’s note: The original headline for this article was rewritten to substitute “Disney-style” for “Disneyland experience.” In addition, the phrase “an arena for a ‘Disney Wild West Show'” was removed from the third paragraph.
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Use of the word “Disney” implies they are in on it…. if not, they should expect to be sued to high heaven, ala Comicon style.
They should use other words like “Theme park”… I have the feeling this isn’t well thought out, right from the beginning.
As litigious as Disney is, they are probably already drafting up cease and desist.
And the water is coming from where? Kiss more open space goodbye! Guess that is what happens when land is privately owned.
It’s funny looking at the map because it shows the development adjacent to the Virgin River. Good luck getting a drop out of that river with all of the wildlife protections and water claims already in place! I’d imagine they will have to purchase a ton of water shares from existing claims.
Is there anyone who will bet that this project won’t happen?
Can they prove they have a signed licensing deal with “Disney” ? I don’t want to see them discussing potential branding with corporate intellectual property lawyers at Disney, I want to see a signed licensing agreement otherwise this development should immediately be tossed out and these developers should be sent packing up. This development is a pump and dump, they are looking to build hype and want to dump this development to a greater fool “investor”. The big dollar’s and the name Disney is a clue this group is desperate to push this through, and push this sucker onto a new group of suckers.
How is that housing market? Our primary market nearby is taking a bath right now with a huge inventory of 7.5k homes in Las Vegas outpacing absorbtion rate and preforclosures and distressed inventory going from only 500 to ~2k in 1 month. Realtors are busy with the tripe of “it is the winter, it is normal for markets to slowdown, buy now before rates go up!” When distressed inventory quadruples so rapidly, it is not a NORMAL expected slowdown. Good luck Folks,… The developers spouting off about Disneyland while they are off in Lalaland.
This reminds me of the failed development over at Sullivan’s Knoll. What are these developers going to do when the next recession hits?
LOL ! this is going to be interesting
How many times is Hurricane going to flirt with these cheesy, half-baked amusement park-communities? They first tried this years ago.
“Disney Experence” did anybody actually look at this site plan? Its a subdivision with condos and a hotel, with event center. 3 billion dollars………….I doubt it. I do wonder if this is the same devloper who previously attempted the project by Sand Hollow worth several billion dollars. Has the same feel.
I remember that too. Pie in the sky with fools financing it.
The last thing Southern Utah needs is anbobmoxious Wild West theme park celebrating gun culture, the genocide of indigenous people’s and cruelty to animals. You will ruin the night sky, the peace and beautiful views. This is an abomination. I was considering moving from Kanab to Hurricane but if this thing goes up, I’ll never visit Hurricane again.
My experience has been that anybody who moves to/develops in St. George wants to be the LAST person to move to/develop in St. George…
As I recall, all the local residents had the same concerns and complaints when Sky Mountain was developed years ago and it turned out ok, right? You cannot move to an area surrounded by private land and be surprised when the owner eventually wants to develop it. I think the proposed development is actually a pretty good fit and a nice addition to the area. The proposed amenity area is about as far away as you can get in the proposed plan and will likely have little effect on Sky Mountain. It really could be so so so much worse (ie: industrial park, retail, sewer or power plant, etc.).
Take another closer look at Colina Tinta off Rlington and say that.
Another Spilsbury idea that gives them continuous landlock and ownership while using others $. Costing $3 billion? What a farse that will never pay off and will be too expensive for locals to attend. Next they will ask for a city bond to help the expense. Buyer beware.
Have we ever heard of St. George or Hurricane city council ever listening to its citizens?? Big dollars always takes precedents over citizens concerns. I saw this when I lived in Idaho and it is true here.
This is a very bad, unsustainable idea. If you love Hurricane, please show up to let your voice be heard!
Agree and will be there.
What’s with everyone’s hang-up on Disney here? This has nothing to do with Disney. Nowhere did the developer say it had ANYTHING to do with Disney or were promising a Disney Experience. There will be NO lawsuits with Disney. Why? Because they have NOTHING to do with Disney!! and there will NOT be Disney mentioned ANYWHERE in the proposed parks name. Someone, (possibly the writer of this article) just said it was a Disney STYLE development. Again, a Disney “STYLE” development! Not a Disneyland. Unbelievable how many people can read something into an article that’s not even there. It’s called “The Cove Project” for crimey’s sake. And it looks just looks like another housing project
Settle down, Bevis.
There is an area on Rt. 9 in Virgin that has the starts of an old town. Why not build up there? It’s closer to Zion, little impact on residents, and views of Zion. I question who is going to pay for the infrastructure, water, utilities, roads, fire department, police department, emergency services, etc. If I wanted to live near Disneyland or a Disneyland like park, I would have moved there. About 8-10 years ago a fella came to town and wanted to build an amusement park and school. He promised that the kids that worked at the park could go to the school tuition free. I was opposed to his pie in the sky idea at that time, and opposed to this one. If it does go thru and flops, what are we left with? Higher taxes and a rotting eye sore. The previous city council and mayor were wise to forgo that “opportunity”. I hope the current city council and mayor are just as wise.
NIMBY’s everywhere. Developers vs. long time residents. It gets so old. Yes, of course it’s a tourist trap. It’s next to one of the most visited national parks in the world. Tax revenue for Hurricane’s infrastructure, in a relatively concentrated form. Don’t mindlessly turn your nose up at this without some serious due diligence.