Bill aims to tweak alternative incorporation route; lawsuit calls process unconstitutional

SALT LAKE CITY — A legislative proposal has emerged to give local elected leaders more say in the creation of cities by developers, contemplated in a 2024 law meant to encourage municipal development in rural areas.

Parallel to that, the 2024 law, SB258, is target of a new lawsuit filed this week in Grand County by critics who think the measure cedes too much power to developers.

"Neither the county itself nor county residents get any say whatsoever during the process of determining feasibility and incorporating a so-called 'preliminary municipality,'" reads the new lawsuit, filed in 7th District Court in Moab.

Kane Creek Development Watch, a Grand County group that has fought creation of the new locale there under HB258's provisions, Echo Canyon, is suing Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and the developer involved, Kane Creek Preservation and Development.

Under SB258, developers create plans on land they own for the sort of locale they seek — called preliminary municipalities — and the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office reviews, considers and, if they pass muster, approves them. The mechanism is reserved for Utah's more rural counties and aims, in part, to spur housing development.

The traditional incorporation process, by contrast, requires a petition effort from those living in the area of a place to be turned into a city, a public vote and, broadly, more public involvement.

The new measure to tweak the preliminary incorporation process, HB510, would give county government officials more of a hand in the proceedings. It's sponsored by Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, and awaits a committee hearing.

Among other things, HB510 would require developers to provide a written outline of their preliminary municipality proposal to officials in the county where it would be located at least four months before filing an application with the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office. County officials would have to provide the developer with a "written response" to the proposal within about three months after getting the outline.

Moreover, county officials would be able to provide consultants tasked by the lieutenant governor's office with reviewing preliminary municipality applications with "data, information and analysis" on the proposals. County officials would also have leeway to formally object to findings of consultants' feasibility studies on preliminary municipality applications.

Echo Canyon is the first preliminary municipality proposal to get approved by Henderson's office. Developers behind three other projects, Park City Tech in Summit County, Nine Springs in Morgan County and Willow in Kane County, have also applied to become preliminary municipalities, and their applications are still in the works.

'Lets developers write their own rules'

The preliminary municipality process has come under fire from some, particularly with regard to the Echo Canyon project, due to worries local leaders don't have enough say and that local planning and zoning guidelines don't have to be followed. Preliminary municipalities must create a traditional elected city government structure on reaching 100 residents, among other requirements.

The new lawsuit in Grand County charges that the preliminary municipality law is unconstitutional and asks that it be declared invalid. It also charges that Echo Canyon is an unconstitutional entity and asks that the varied actions leading to its creation be declared null and void.

"Bottom line, the new law lets developers write their own rules for governing rather than elected county representatives who are accountable to residents," Kane Creek Development Watch said in a statement announcing its lawsuit. The foes filed a separate lawsuit last June to halt Echo Canyon's development, charging it doesn't have the needed water rights.

Neither Henderson's office nor Kane Creek Preservation and Development have yet responded to the lawsuit.

Related topics