West Hills is a proposed town on about 3,200 acres between Kamas and Hideout in eastern Summit County.
Consultants hired by Utah’s lieutenant governor ruled it would be financially feasible to incorporate the town, so it goes to a public hearing in February. Ultimately, voters would need to approve the incorporation in November.
Before the public meeting, sponsor Derek Anderson, a real estate attorney who owns 72 acres within the potential town limits, is holding private meetings with separate groups of neighbors.
The third and fourth of those meetings happened the evening of Jan. 25 in a conference room at Ultimate Home Lending, just above Lucky Ones Coffee on Kamas’ Main Street.
KPCW wasn’t allowed in the private meeting but did interview Anderson afterward.
“We've split them up because we want to keep the meeting small so you can interact with people; they can show up and ask some questions,” Anderson said. “And frankly, we don't have a place bigger. Right now, this was a friend of a friend who offered this [conference room].”
He says he’s been going over big-picture possibilities in the meetings, to show the benefits of incorporation. The main thing Anderson and his communications team stress is land use flexibility.
“I don't know one person saying, ‘I want high density.’ Most people are like, ‘I want to have something for my kids,’” he said.
Anderson and his team say no one’s proposing anything yet, besides a new town.
He also says growth is inevitable. The state’s feasibility study found some development would be needed to keep West Hills’ taxes flat; taxes would go up if would-be residents want to build a town hall.
Most Kamas Valley residents KPCW has spoken with express skepticism or outright opposition to incorporating West Hills.
Of the 10 landowners who signed the original petition to incorporate West Hills, three are primary residents of the West Hills area. Anderson says one was harassed by neighbors for expressing support.
But he says he expects people to speak in favor of incorporating West Hills at the public hearing, which is Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. at South Summit Middle School.
The lieutenant governor’s office says the consultants who performed the financial feasibility study will present their findings followed by the opportunity for public comment.
Residents can also submit questions in advance through an online form.
More information at ltgovernor.utah.gov/incorporations.
