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SALT LAKE CITY — A measure inked into law this week by Gov. Spencer Cox aims to do away with the array of unincorporated islands scattered between the many cities of Salt Lake County, creating, instead, a solid incorporated block.
The measure would also allow two unincorporated communities east of Sandy — Granite and Sandy Hills — to become cities if residents so desire. The two communities each consist of several unincorporated islands and their incorporation, if residents go that direction, would result in cities spread over several disconnected pockets of land.
Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, sponsored HB330 in a bid to end the need for Salt Lake County government to manage the small plots of unincorporated land amid the urban sprawl of the county's densely populated core. "This will allow the county to get out of that process of providing municipal services to these islands and really get to a state where we'll have wall-to-wall cities within Salt Lake County," he said at a Jan. 25 committee meeting on the measure.
The House and Senate ultimately approved the measure, which applies just to Salt Lake County, and Cox inked it into law on Monday.
Many unincorporated pockets would automatically be annexed into adjacent cities effective July 1, 2027. Residents in Granite and Sandy Hills, however, would first have the option of going through the incorporation process, though 80% of residents would have to vote in favor of becoming a city for the process to succeed.
"It is a high bar but it does give a path for these communities, if they so choose, to be able to stay as a municipality and not have to go through that automatic annexation process," Teuscher said.
Vaughn Cox, chairman of the Granite Community Council, an advisory body to the county made up of residents of the area, said Wednesday he favors HB330, though, it's not clear if residents will seek incorporation. Granite, made up of 16 islands of land in and around the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, is home to around 1,500 people, he said.
"We don't know if we'll incorporate or not. We're just happy that we have a choice," Cox said.
Community residents have been debating the matter, he said, and have scheduled an April 27 meeting to further discuss it. One of the points of debate is whether anyone is willing to do the heavy lifting required to manage and oversee the incorporation process, spelled out in state law. "Do we have the group of residents who are willing to move that forward?" Cox said.
He said if residents don't try for incorporation, most of Granite — first settled by Utah Pioneers in the late 1850s — would likely be folded into Sandy.
Ron Faerber, chairman of the Sandy Hills Community Council, also an advisory body to the county, said whether to seek incorporation has been a focus of heavy debate but that residents haven't yet made a formal decision. He, however, doesn't think it's a viable option given the lack of commercial development in the community, typically key in generating tax revenue for a city.
"It just doesn't make sense for us to incorporate into a city. Financially, I don't think it makes sense," he said. Sandy Hills is made up of seven or eight islands, Faerber said, and is home to 3,000 to 4,000 people.
Aside from garnering support from 80% of voters, incorporation boosters in each locale would first have to get a feasibility study examining the financial viability of becoming a city, a standard part of the incorporation process. The study would determine what sort of tax base the community has and whether it would generate the tax revenue needed to cover the cost of city functions.
Years ago before the cities of Salt Lake County started growing, expanding and annexing unclaimed land, there were perhaps 15-20 community councils scattered around the county, Cox said. They didn't have any sort of official authority, but served as advisory bodies to county officials, who manage unincorporated areas. Now, the Sandy Hills and Granite community councils are the only two that remain in the unincorporated areas of the county.
