Santa Clara Council approves huge new resort development

The Santa Clara City Council has paved the way for a new residential resort community to be built in the Southern Utah community. In its meeting in July, the council voted to amend the city’s general plan land-use map to allow for the mixed-use project. The project -- called Black Desert -- includes an 18-hole golf course, hotels, trails and housing located near the Entrada at Snow Canyon development between Santa Clara and Ivins.

The development of the Black Desert project is being managed by Enlaw, an Alpine-based real estate development firm. It consists of 600 acres of development, with 298 acres in Santa Clara and 302 acres in Ivins and will include about 1,937 low-to-medium-density residential units, Enlaw said.

The next step for developers is applying for a zone change from planned development residential to mixed-use. The Santa Clara City Council rezoned the land to planned development residential in 2007 for the Knolls Pasture project, which is no longer being pursued due to the 2008 recession. Similar zone changes are being pursued with Ivins officials.

Santa Clara City Planner Bob Nicholson said the Santa Clara general plan stresses the importance of preserving unique, sensitive areas, like the lava fields. He said that Enlaw has shown an effort to preserve the ridges and many of the high points of the lava fields. Black Desert includes 178 acres of open space in Santa Clara, including mostly lava beds. Although some pristine lava beds will be removed as part of the proposal, the project does meet the general pPlan’s requirement of lava bed preservation.

Enlaw said it is currently working with a golf course designer to work on the layout of the course. More details will become available as the rezoning application is considered, including what the housing will look like and what types of housing will be available, Nicholson said.