Portions of both the Jordanelle Parkway and Richardson Flat Road are scheduled to be designated under Wasatch County jurisdiction.
The designation is made by the Wasatch County Manager Mike Davis who says it won’t impact the MIDA project at Mayflower or the town of Hideout.
“This shouldn’t impact really anybody other than ourselves--to the degree that these have been county roads. They’re dedicated to the County. When Hideout did their recent annexation, they used these sections of road to connect to the properties in Summit County that they annexed. The declaration will not remove these roads from Hideout. They will still be part of Hideout, but it keeps the jurisdiction of the roads to Wasatch County.”
Davis is working with UDOT Region 2 to put in a stoplight at the intersection of Jordanelle Parkway and Richardson Flat Road.
“Which will involve issues in the right of way of this section of road for turn lanes and position of signal infrastructure and so forth. So, we want to maintain all of this going forward. It doesn't restrict anybody from driving on the roads or anything like that. But we would maintain the easement of the right-of-way. So, we would plow it, we would fix it, but it's still public access. It still is in Hideout, so it shouldn’t change any of that.”
Wasatch County Council Member Steve Farrel asked for clarification on how maintenance will be managed since the road is in the Hideout town boundaries.
“Hideout is going to have to maintain that road then from the county line to the end of their annexation?”
“They will, and throughout their development. But it is still within the Hideout town boundaries even though we’re maintaining it and the right-of-way. It is still within the boundary. So, it still maintains the connection."
“And there’s no way the County can be required to maintain it even though it’s in Hideout in Summit County?”
“No, and the limit of my declaration is to the county line.”
“OK good.”
Davis says the surveyors clarified the right-of-way which does not include any of the lands around Stock Building Supply.
“Has anybody talked to you from Hideout?”
“Not recently. We did talk to the surveyor for the attorney who was preparing the annexation at the time told them of our intention to do that. They said we would probably give it back anyway. This is the state code that allows us to do this. So, they were very aware of it before they ever did the annexation that the county would want that back. So, through the legal description that was used for the annexation and that verified that the only portion that's included in their annexation are these two roads.”
State code allows county managers to declare jurisdiction over roads within annexations if they are deemed critical to the county’s needs. Davis says it should be complete by the spring of 2021.
