Third District Court Judge Kent Holmberg on Tuesday said Park City should be dismissed from a lawsuit that involves the chair of the city planning commission, Sarah Hall, and several of her neighbors.
The neighbors claim that Hall and her husband Gerry skirted longstanding property restrictions on their lot near McLeod Creek when they renovated their home in 2022. The neighbors who filed the lawsuit contend Park City Municipal failed to properly enforce regulations, but Judge Holmberg said there aren’t any direct claims against the city.
Holmberg is taking more time to consider the rest of the neighbors’ arguments and will issue a ruling about the Halls’ request to dismiss the case in the coming weeks.
One key point of discussion Tuesday was the determination of sensitive wetlands in the neighborhood.
One of the neighbors, Bob Theobald, said the Army Corps of Engineers established rules in the 1990s outlining development allowed on the Hall property.
But attorneys for the Halls and the city said the Army Corps considers such determinations invalid after five years.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees sensitive wetlands, opened an investigation of “potential unauthorized activity” on the Halls’ property and in 2023 sent them a letter asking for more information. The Army Corps has declined KPCW’s requests for comment on the investigation.
Mitch Stephens, the lawyer for Park City Municipal, said without federal designation of wetlands, the city has no authority to impose restrictions based on state law.
Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik recently dismissed with prejudice a separate but similar case Theobald filed earlier this year.
