Utah legislators added provisions to House Bill 457 Feb. 24 that only affect Summit and Tooele counties, according to Deputy County Manager Janna Young.
“We do know that Ivory Homes is behind this, because they testified at the committee and talked about it and specifically mentioned us,” Young told the Summit County Council the day after. “As you know, they are working on an application for a village development in Browns Canyon.”
Ivory Development President Chris Gamvroulas told the Utah House Political Subdivisions Committee he approached Taylorsville Republican Rep. Jim Dunnigan about HB457.
“I made the observation that there are some third-class counties that are what we would call ‘shoulder counties’ that are more rural, particularly like Tooele County and Summit County, that have been growing,” Gamvroulas said Feb. 24. “But you don't see, you don't see actual growth maps.”
He was referring to how Tooele and Summit counties abut the state’s largest metropolitan area in Salt Lake County.
The new version of HB457 designates Tooele and Summit as “metropolitan growth counties.”
It requires their general plans to designate at least one area that can accommodate 20-year growth predictions made by state population experts.
Summit County’s top civil attorney, Dave Thomas, said at the county council meeting it’s an attempt to “basically do a preliminary municipality, but through a different process.”
Ivory Homes is seeking a rezone in Browns Canyon on Summit County’s east side that could allow thousands of homes. It tried unsuccessfully to apply for a new town there this year.
Community Development Director Peter Barnes wasn’t sure if HB457 is a response to the failed incorporation effort or a different Ivory development that stalled during the planning process: Cedar Crest in Hoytsville.
“Part of this provision actually requires us to identify growth areas,” Barnes said. “We. We can actually deny an area because there's no infrastructure. And there is no current infrastructure in Browns Canyon, and we're not proposing to build any of it. So I'm not sure what the immediate advantage would be for this.”
Summit County has two general plans. The Snyderville Basin one already has a “future land use map.”
The eastern Summit County one doesn’t, but planners are working to add one. The planning department has also changed the zoning code to allow for villages in unincorporated communities like Echo, Upton, Hoytsville, Wanship, Peoa, Marion and Woodland.
It’s not clear if that would already satisfy the requirements of HB457 or not.
The House committee voted 7-2 to advance the bill, and as of Feb. 27 was awaiting a vote of the full Utah House.
If HB457 gets to the Senate, its sponsor there will be Sen. Ron Winterton, from Roosevelt, whose district includes Summit County. The Republican signed on as a floor sponsor before the bill was amended.
The 2026 Legislative General Session ends March 6.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
