Olympia Hills (Olympia) in Herriman: What to Know About the 930-Acre Development

Olympia, also known as Olympia Hills, is a master-planned community of roughly 930 acres in Herriman City, Utah, in the area around Herriman Boulevard, Bacchus Highway, and 13400 South. This explainer covers what is planned for the development, the history of controversy that followed it through county and city approvals, the approved unit counts and constraints, the affordable housing requirements tied to a $50 million state infrastructure grant, how public infrastructure is funded, and the arguments on both sides.

The project has changed shape several times since it was first proposed in 2018, from a roughly 9,000-unit county proposal to the currently approved plan of up to 6,480 units under Herriman's Master Development Agreement. Figures below come from the linked news reports and from the developer-presented deck that is the primary source for current unit counts, the recorded CC&R structure, PID mechanics, HUD figures, and market data. All positions are presented as reported; nothing here is investment or legal advice.

What and where is Olympia?

Olympia is a master-planned community in northwestern Herriman City, in the area around Herriman Boulevard, Bacchus Highway, and 13400 South. The land sits on roughly 930 acres that were formerly unincorporated Salt Lake County, west of Herriman's established neighborhoods. Herriman City annexed the property in 2021, and the development is now commonly referred to simply as Olympia.

Per the Master Land Use Plan, the community is intended to include a planned Town Center, village neighborhoods with a mix of detached and attached homes, and a network of open space. The developer behind the project is represented by Edge Homes, with Paxton Guymon serving as General Counsel, according to the developer presentation.

You can read more about Herriman itself in our Herriman community guide and in the Herriman neighborhood spotlight update.

History and controversy: a timeline

Olympia's path to approval was long and contested. What follows is a timeline drawn from contemporaneous news reports; quoted positions are attributed.

• 2018: The project was originally proposed as a high-density development on unincorporated Salt Lake County land west of Herriman, with roughly 9,000 units. The Salt Lake County Council approved it, and then-Mayor Ben McAdams vetoed it in June 2018 after intense public protest, FOX13 reported.
• 2019: A redesigned "Olympia Hills 2.0" with fewer homes returned. Mayors of surrounding cities, including Riverton's Trent Staggs and Bluffdale's Derk Timothy, plus officials from Copperton, Herriman, South Jordan, and West Jordan, and hundreds of residents opposed it over density, traffic, water and sewer service, schools, and open space, the Deseret News and KSL reported. Residents showed up to hearings wearing "#OHNO" shirts in protest.
• 2020: The Salt Lake County Council approved the project 6-3 in early 2020 amid continued opposition from neighboring city mayors and residents, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
• 2021: In September 2021, the Herriman City Council voted in a divided decision to annex the land, then about 933 acres. The development is now called simply Olympia. Councilwoman Sherrie Ohrn publicly opposed the annexation over density, saying she believed it was "too dense," per reporting from The Salt Lake Tribune.

The September 2021 annexation and the Master Development Agreement that followed moved the project under Herriman City's control, where the current buildout is underway. The developer is now represented by Edge Homes, with Paxton Guymon as General Counsel.

The approved plan and where it stands

Herriman City Council approved the Master Development Agreement in September 2021. The approved maximum is 6,480 residential units. As of the latest updated developer presentation, roughly 600 homes are built or under construction, so the project is in its early stages with many years of buildout ahead.

The approved plan includes structural constraints:

• At least 30% of homes must be detached single-family.
• No more than 37% of units may be apartment units.
• About 174 acres are designated open space.

For scale, the developer deck cites a comparison: Daybreak spans roughly 4,100 acres with a maximum of about 20,785 units, making Olympia a denser-by-acreage but far smaller master plan.

The affordable housing requirements, explained

A Utah Affordable Housing Infrastructure Grant gave Herriman City $50 million for three new backbone roads, tied to delivering 2,500 new "affordable housing" units, with at least 1,250 of them single-family detached. The mechanics are recorded in CC&Rs on those 2,500 new homes:

• No more than 20% of New Homes that have satisfied an initial 5-year owner-occupancy requirement may be tenant-occupied, and that rental cap cannot be amended without Herriman City's written consent.
• At least 1,250 New Homes must be single-family detached on lots of 5,000 sq ft or less.
• A minimum of 500 of those homes must be 1,600 finished sq ft or less (including any ADU), with the remainder at 1,900 finished sq ft or less (including any ADU).

The developer deck shows a "Small Singles with Attached ADUs" concept as one way to meet these size and lot constraints.

The definition of "affordable" itself has shifted. A 2025 statute defined an affordable unit as one sold to an owner-occupier at a price affordable to a household earning at or below 120% of county area median income. In 2026, the legislature changed the definition. The project's board weighed tying "affordable" to $25,000 below median sales price versus affordability to a below-median-income borrower, with the board noting that heavy-handed price caps could drive builders away, per the deck. For context, Utah's existing Moderate Income Housing standard is 80% of county median gross income.

HUD's 2026 Salt Lake County figures, as published, place the median family income at $126,100:

The deck runs a borrower example through these figures: at roughly $100,900 in income, a credit score of 760 or better, a $500/month car payment, $150/month HOA, 5% down, and a 6.5% interest rate, the maximum mortgage works out near $465,000 and the maximum purchase price near $490,000.

For market context, the deck cites UtahRealEstate.com data for Salt Lake County as of June 2026:

Infrastructure: the roads, the PIDs, and reported concerns

The $50 million grant funds three backbone road projects, according to the deck:

• Bacchus Highway Loop Connection to the new U-111 and Mountain View Corridor, Bangerter Highway, and I-15.
• 13400 South Connection to Mountain View Corridor, Bangerter Highway, and I-15.
• Bacchus Highway/Main Street expansion and improvements.

Beyond the grant, much of the community's infrastructure is funded through Public Infrastructure Districts, or PIDs. A PID is a special district that may fund public roads, water tanks, storm drain systems, sewer systems, and similar improvements, with the cost carried by property owners within the district.

• The PID rate for Olympia is 0.4% (0.004) of taxable value.
• Owner-occupied homes receive the 40% residential exemption. The deck's example: a 2025 market value of $334,500 produced a taxable value of $183,975 and a PID charge of $735.90 that year.
• PID assessments generally last about 30 years.
• New PID disclosure requirements took effect May 6, 2026, requiring clearer notice to buyers about the assessments.

The trade-offs here are straightforward and worth weighing for any buyer: PIDs spread major infrastructure costs over decades, which is how the roads and systems get built, but they also mean a long-term annual assessment on owners on top of property taxes. The newer disclosure rules are intended to make those obligations more visible before a purchase.

Reported community concerns about infrastructure, as attributed to the earlier opposition, include congestion on east-west routes in and around Herriman, stressed services as the area grows, school capacity, and the capacity of water and sewer systems. These were raised by opposing mayors and residents during the county approval fights and remain part of the public discussion; they are reported positions, not statements of fact established here.

The arguments on both sides

The following two lists summarize the positions reported in coverage and stated in the developer deck. They are presented as positions, not as determinations.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

Note: the developer-presented deck is the primary source for the current unit counts, CC&R structure, PID mechanics, market data, and HUD figures. The following news reports cover the history and controversy.

• FOX13, "Mayor McAdams vetoes Herriman's Olympia Hills development" (June 2018).
  https://www.fox13now.com/2018/06/15/mayor-mcadams-vetoes-herrimans-olympia-hills-development
• Deseret News, "Controversial Olympia Hills project near Herriman back on drawing board" (March 2019).
  https://www.deseret.com/2019/3/11/20668067/controversial-olympia-hills-project-near-herriman-back-on-drawing-board/
• The Salt Lake Tribune, "Mayors call on Salt Lake County to reject Olympia Hills" (January 2020).
  https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/01/28/mayors-call-salt-lake/
• KSL, "Scaling down proposed Olympia Hills development is 'just lipstick on a pig' to Herriman residents" (2020).
  https://www.ksl.com/article/46710529/scaling-down-proposed-olympia-hills-development-is-just-lipstick-on-a-pig-to-herriman-residents
• The Salt Lake Tribune, "Olympia Hills gets final approval" (February 2020).
  https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/02/26/olympia-hills-gets/
• The Salt Lake Tribune, "Huge Olympia Hills development annexation" (September 2021).
  https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/09/30/huge-olympia-hills/
• Deseret News, "Olympia Hills is back as part of Herriman annexation" (October 2021).
  https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/10/2/22704441/olympia-hills-is-back-as-part-of-herriman-annexation-doug-young-salt-lake-county-development/