"West Hills" just crossed the first hurdle toward becoming Summit County’s newest town.
Utah’s Office of the Lieutenant Governor released a feasibility study that says the town would be viable if incorporated, and it could actually run a budget surplus.
"This is a significant milestone for West Hills," the town's sponsor, real estate attorney Derek Anderson said.
"The participating landowners are grateful that the lieutenant governor's office has favorably determined that we are now legally approved to continue forward with the incorporation process."
But the lieutenant governor's study isn’t all positive. It says Summit County’s plans to purchase the Ure Ranch and potential annexations from Kamas or Francis pose risks.
Either scenario could take tens or hundreds of acres out of West Hills’ boundaries, threatening its economic viability.
The study cites the example of Cedar Highlands in Iron County.
It became a town in 2018 before voting to revert to unincorporated status two years later. The former mayor told St. George News the town couldn’t survive on road and sales taxes without commercial revenue.
“As West Hills does not presently generate retail point of sale revenue, the fiscal sustainability of the [town] is contingent upon proposed commercial and industrial development,” the study said.
The study also includes an updated map of West Hills. It shows which landowners have opted out of its boundaries so far.
At least 9 landowners holding about 187 acres have opted out of the now roughly 3,200-acre area.
One of the ones to opt out is Pat Gooley, who has 2 acres south of state Route 248.
“I assume that anybody that lives out here in our little subdivision, everybody's moved here for the same reason,” he said. “And it's to be away from the fray, you know? And not live in big neighborhoods, and pursue that rural and private lifestyle.”
Gail Miller, the richest person in Utah, has 1.5 acres next to Gooley which have also been excluded from West Hills. The Larry H. Miller Company did not respond to a request for comment in time for this report.
The original petition for incorporation took some locals by surprise.
That includes Lindy Sternlight, who has opted out of the town, and who thinks Anderson has been “disingenuous” by trying to change the community’s rural character.
“If you willingly buy into a community knowing what the principles of that community stand for, and from the get go, try to undermine those principles,” she said. “Don’t need to say any more.”
Others are more apathetic, which is how Dustin Sexton describes himself. He has an auto repair shop right on S.R. 248 within West Hills’ boundaries.
Sexton didn’t request to be excluded, but that doesn’t mean the town has his full support.
“[The Kamas Valley] is definitely a great place to live, and it's going to grow throughout time no matter what you do. We need to do it responsibly,” he said. “This might be the right answer. I don't know.”
One of the largest landowners in the area is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has 633 acres still included in the town borders. KPCW reached out to a church spokesperson, who did not respond in time for this report.
Now that the lieutenant governor’s office has determined West Hills is feasible, it will hold public hearings for local landowners.
West Hills’ sponsors will begin collecting signatures too, to get the town on the ballot in 2024. They need signatures from voters who own at least 10% of the land in the area and hold 7% of the land value to put it to a vote.
