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Fate of Hideout Annexation Plan Up in the Air Before Aug. 20 Special Session

Hideout

 

State Rep. Tim Quinn, who represents Park City and Hideout in the Utah state legislature, spoke about the Hideout annexation vote at Tuesday evening’s town meeting at the Park’s Edge community.

 

Quinn said if the Hideout Town Council is serious about finding a solution to the controversy surrounding the annexation, it should wait for a decision from the Utah State Legislature on controversial House Bill 359 before moving forward.

 

Hideout is a small town of under 1,000 residents on the northeast shore of the Jordanelle Reservoir in Wasatch County. The town council voted on July 9 to begin the annexation process of 655 acres of land in Summit County near Park City known as Richardson Flat for use as a commercial development area. 

 

Nate Brockbank and Josh Romney, who is the son of U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, are the developers involved with the proposal. The two hope to build a mixed-use development at Hideout called “North Park,” which includes 200,000 square feet of commercial area, 100,000 square feet of office space, and 3,500 residential units.

 

A controversial amendment to House Bill 359, which Gov. Gary Herbert signed earlier this year, enabled Hideout to make this move. Allegations of misrepresentation by lobbyists during the legislative process have led lawmakers to plan to reconsider and possibly repeal H.B. 359 in the upcoming August special session of the Utah State Legislature.

 

The Utah State Legislature is considered a part-time branch of government and holds an annual, 45-day general session that begins on the fourth Monday of January. Additional special sessions of the legislature may be convened by the governor throughout the year to conduct additional business. 

 

Quinn told the crowd on Tuesday due to the limited time available to get legislation passed during the general session, it is not unprecedented for bills to pass with minimal discussion, as was the case with H.B. 359.

 

“In a general session, in the last two or three days, this sort of thing happens a lot,” Quinn said. “I don’t mean underhanded things, I mean the rapidity of which this happened and the fact that it didn’t have a committee hearing, the fact that it didn’t have much debate or discussion on the floor. That’s just the way we do it in a very part-time legislature where we have, I think, 32 business days to transact the business of the state for that upcoming year.”

 

Quinn was the lone “no” vote in the Utah House of Representatives on H.B. 359 and will support a repeal of the legislation at the August special session.

 

Brian Cooper is a Hideout resident and said at Tuesday’s meeting that Hideout officials are willing to work with surrounding municipalities to solve the problems regarding projected growth around the Jordanelle Reservoir and the need for adequate services for the town. In response, Quinn said that if Hideout is serious about coming to the table, Hideout’s town council should not move any further in the annexation process until after the August special session.

 

“If they’re willing to work with everyone to make this happen in a right and above-board way, then have them hold off their vote until after the special session that the legislation is going into,” he said. “If they would do that, then I would believe them.”

 

Summit County sued Hideout over the annexation move last Friday and was granted a temporary restraining order on Tuesday. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 10 at 9 a.m. to determine whether the temporary restraining order against Hideout should be dissolved or converted to a preliminary injunction. 

 

Unless the order is dissolved, the annexation process cannot move forward until a repeal of H.B. 359 is voted on later this month.

 

The Hideout Town Council will be holding official public hearings on the annexation on Aug. 12 and 18 and depending on the outcome of the Aug. 10 court hearing, could vote on the annexation issue before the Utah State Legislature is scheduled to convene on Aug. 20.

Sean Higgins covers all things Park City and is the Saturday Weekend Edition host at KPCW. Sean spent the first five years of his journalism career covering World Cup skiing for Ski Racing Media here in Utah and served as Senior Editor until January 2020. As Senior Editor, he managed the day-to-day news section of skiracing.com, as well as produced and hosted Ski Racing’s weekly podcast. During his tenure with Ski Racing Media, he was also a field reporter for NBC Sports, covering events in Europe.
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