MT. PLEASANT—The Mt. Pleasant Industrial Park is sold out.
Beginning in 1998, the park was developed in five phases, with the U.S. Economic Development Administration contributing grant money for each phase. The Mt. Pleasant Community Development and Renewal Agency (CDRA) matched the grants with in-kind development work. To date, 58 parcels have been sold ranging from three-quarters of an acre to 9 acres.
“With completion of all sales in Phase 5, coupled with sales in the previous phases going back to 1998, all parcels are now sold,” Monte Bona, director of the CDRA, told the CRDA board, whose membership is the same as the Mt. Pleasant City Council, on Tuesday, April 12.
That doesn’t mean the selling of lots is completely over, Bona said. “Several lots remain undeveloped because the owner has not fulfilled commitments to establish a viable business on them. We are in the process of enforcing our covenants and buying back the lots that aren’t being developed.”
Bona says those lots will be resold to people who commit to establishing viable businesses that bring benefit to the city.
Bona acknowledges the city has received complaints about a large swath of lumber and stacks of wall panels completed by Site Serve, the largest employer in the industrial park. The lumber is visible from U.S. 89 at the entrance to the city.
The city recently completed subdividing the expanse of land at the back of the industrial park and has given Site Serve access to land there that will enable them to transfer their lumber storage off the highway frontage to less visible property to the west.
Site Serve owns other property in the industrial park on which the company will soon be building expanded facilities. Their current manufacturing building is now listed for sale.
Bona also said a large machine shop currently located in Bountiful has sold its facility and will be building a new shop in the Industrial Park.
Meanwhile, Bona said the Cleone Eccles Peterson Equestrian Center, which includes the ConToy Arena, has won several grants that will significantly upgrade the facility.
They include $340,000 from the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement, $150,000 from the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation, $30,000 from Utah State Parks, $50,000 from the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, and an in-kind grant of $9,000 from the Backcountry Horseman of America. An additional $25,000 will come from Mt. Pleasant City, bringing the grand total to $605,000.
The biggest project is a covered warm up barn that riders can use while waiting to participate in events inside the arena.
“We have an uncovered warm up area that many-times is a muddy mess,” Bona said. “We’ve had complaints about it for years. Now we’re able to do something about it.”
One of the projects Bona is excited about is what he calls a horse hotel. The concept is that people who come to Sanpete to ride horse trails in the surrounding area need a place to stay and facilities to house their horses in when they are not riding.
Bona wants to use the equestrian park facilities for such a facility. “If we get those trail riders to come here, they will eat at our restaurants, buy food at our grocery stores, and visit other venues while they’re in town. The whole community benefits,” he said.
Some of the grant money will be used to develop better parking at trailheads in the Manti-LaSal National Forest and on other public lands in Central Utah.
Meanwhile, restroom facilities are being constructed at the ConToy Arena for people participating in activities are not held inside the arena. The walls have already gone up for the facility.
Mt. Pleasant has developed into one of the country’s premier “eventing” centers, and eventing meets there attract people from across the nation. “Eventing” is an equestrian sport that approximates the challenges and obstacles riders encounter while riding on flatlands and in mountains, like the Pony Express riders or mountain men of the 19th Century.
The Eccles Equestrian Park has developed an extensive eventing course featuring jumps, obstacles and even a pond.
