Zip-line OK’d; owner plans spring 2013 opening
by Steve Kadel
contributing writer
Nov 15, 2012 | 2700 views | 0 0 comments | 14 14 recommendations | email to a friend | print
With concerns of adjacent neighbors resolved, the Grand County Council has given final approval to construction of a zip-line course near Moab.

Casey Bynum, owner of Moab Zip-line Adventures, said Tuesday he hopes to open in spring 2013.

“We’ll be working through the winter months,” he said of construction for the project.

The council voted unanimously Wednesday, Nov. 7, to approve a conditional use permit that gives the project a green light.

McKay Edwards, a Salt Lake City developer who owns property in Moab, had questioned whether the part of the course that is located above Moab Springs Ranch would cause erosion and storm water run-off onto the residential area.

However, Edwards said during last week’s council meeting that he walked the course with applicants Casey Bynum and Bynum’s wife, Emily, of Boulder, Colo., on Nov. 7 and changed his mind about negative effects, including possible drainage issues.

Edwards and Casey Bynum shook hands after the meeting and Edwards wished him well.

“We just had some unanswered questions,” Edwards said during an interview. “The applicants were responsive.”

The course is located near the Slickrock Bike Trail and is surrounded by public lands in the Sand Flats Recreation Area, managed cooperatively by Grand County and the Bureau of Land Management. The course will contain several zip lines on property owned by Mark Steen.

Bynum said he and Emily rode a zip line years ago and were impressed with the adventure.

“My grandparents and parents are from Moab, so it dawned on me that it was a good place to have a zip line,” he said.

Krissie Braun, county community development director, said during last week’s council meeting that the county received “a number” of citizen comments on the proposal following an Oct. 16 public hearing.

Some modifications have been made to the plan since then, Braun said. They include removing one of three cable segments near the bike trail and replacing it with a footbridge.

“Aesthetically it will be an improvement,” said Braun.

Charles Hughes, a contract engineer for the Bynums, addressed the possible run-off problem raised on behalf of Moab Springs condominium residents.

“It won’t affect adjacent property owners or change the existing drainage pattern,” Hughes said. “What impacts there will be are on their [applicants’] own property.”

Casey Bynum said the long process to gain governmental approval was “grueling.” He added, “I hope it is worth it.”

He said local construction workers will be hired to build a storefront near Denny’s restaurant north of Moab, from which tickets will be sold. A project engineer from Seattle will help design the rigging for lines. Geo-technical engineering, such as fastening poles, will be done by a Grand Junction, Colo., firm, he said.

Bynum emphasized they are going to great lengths for safety.

“We test each bolt at three times the capacity it will support,” he said. “It makes us all sleep better at night.”
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