Summit County made the 8,600-acre 910 Ranch whole with two smaller land purchases in the past year.
County leaders struck a deal with the ranch owner in August 2023 and closed that deal in January. Some 1,800 acres of the 910 cross into Morgan County.
Months before, in September 2025, Summit County bought a 37-acre parcel from a separate landowner across the border, which Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said would’ve been a “doughnut hole” in the middle of the ranch.
That gave Morgan County leaders heartburn, since due to the private nature of land deals in Utah, they didn’t get prior notice.
“We didn't go to them and ask them permission — we just did it. We thought we were doing a good thing,” Scott said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” July 14. “The second time we acquired property in the 910 in this kind of a situation, we met with them. We talked with them. We showed them what it was, why it was important that we buy it and so we really went through a process of notifying them about that.”
Staff say the 37 acres cost $240,000, funded by 2021 voter-approved open space bonds.
The second small acquisition, for $80,000, came in March 2026 after the overall ranch purchase.
That added 10 acres to the 910, including a road that connects the northeastern reaches of the ranch to the rest of the property.
Two months later, a law went into effect prohibiting similar cross-county line purchases without the local county council or commission’s approval. Morgan County “fought very hard” for that law, according to Commissioner Blaine Fackrell.
A December 2025 economic assessment and plan that state officials prepared for Morgan County listed Summit County’s land acquisitions among other “threats” or “barriers to progress.”
The document states Summit County is “effectively removing that land from Morgan’s tax base and shifting the service burden for those parcels to Morgan residents.”
Scott doesn’t see the service burden increasing drastically since Summit County is keeping the 910 Ranch open.
“I've been confused by the concern,” he said. “Of course, if they think we're going to buy something and then jam down a hotel on the top of the 910 Ranch, that would be a concern — but we're clearly not doing that.”
The two sides are expected to sign an agreement this year in which Summit County pays an annual fee instead of taxes on the ranchland. Scott said it starts at around $528 and, under the draft agreement, would increase annually with inflation.
That agreement will also cover services like road maintenance and law enforcement.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
