Wasatch Back Republican Rep. Mike Kohler’s House Bill 540 would not allow any more “preliminary municipalities” to begin after Feb. 15.
“Basically, it gives what I'll call a ‘corporate town,’ but it gives people that own a bunch of property the ability to come in, create a preliminary town, do the development, including all the infrastructure, the way they want,” Kohler told the House Judiciary Committee March 3.
Northern Summit County Rep. Tiara Auxier, the Republican who recently replaced Kera Birkeland, motioned to pass the bill ending preliminary municipalities out of committee favorably.
“I think it's very important that when these subdivisions want to go in that they do work with the county and find an agreement on both sides that works, and not just let a few people overrule an entire county of voters,” Auxier said.
The process greenlit under last year’s Senate Bill 258 has come under scrutiny locally after Dakota Pacific Real Estate filed to form such a town in Kimball Junction a couple weeks after a referendum effort began to block its controversial 725-unit residential development.
HB540 grandfathers in preliminary municipalities that are already underway, including Dakota Pacific’s.
The bill’s draft would have required Dakota Pacific to comply with the agreement it struck with the Summit County Council in December, but never signed.
Under the March 3 revision, HB540 says developers only need to abide by preexisting development agreements if they’re incorporating within less populated counties — those that are fourth, fifth or sixth class.
Because it has more than 40,000 people, Summit County is third class.
Prior to the change, Deputy Summit County Manager Janna Young said she doubted the bill would pass.
Utah Home Builders Association lobbyist Taz Biesinger spoke against the bill, telling the committee more time needs to be spent on this bill. The legislative session ends Friday, March 7.
“There really is only one logical reason that a developer would go through the time and the hassle and the expense of trying to form their own preliminary city, and that is because they want to get out from under the jurisdiction of the county for one reason or another,” Biesinger said. “And I won't elaborate on that, but there, oftentimes, it's stifling and preventive to what they're trying to accomplish.”
As written, HB540 would still require Dakota Pacific to assure Summit County it will pay for any “damages” caused by its development.
The bill now heads to the full House for a vote. Last week, the lieutenant governor’s office determined Dakota Pacific had met the requirements to begin incorporation.
