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Wasatch County to rewrite general plan; community surveys coming soon

A winter view of Mount Timpanogos
Parker Malatesta / KPCW
A winter view of Mount Timpanogos

Wasatch County has begun the process of revising its general plan, and leaders are looking for community input.

The general plan is a guiding document for the county. It includes information about infrastructure needs, environmental quality, and land use policies and plans. It also lays out a vision for the region’s economic development and top priorities for the county’s future.

The last version of the county’s general plan was adopted in November 2001. At a planning commission meeting Thursday, Jan. 9, county leaders said it’s due for an update.

Austin Corry, the county’s assistant planning director, said the revision process won’t be complete until spring 2026. Before then, he said there will be ample opportunities for public input.

“We’re talking two different surveys and a public open house, in addition to the public meetings and things that we do regularly with the planning commission,” he said. “Those would be things specifically focused towards getting community feedback.”

He said only after county leaders hear from the public will they sit down to draft a new general plan. That work will begin around May of this year.

“We’re not going into this with preconceived notions about what we’re doing,” he said. “We’re really looking for feedback.”

County staff have also been gathering data to inform the new general plan, especially census data.

Corry said Wasatch County will continue to grow over the next few decades. In 2022, the county had an estimated 37,000 residents, and by 2060, that population will grow to about 81,000, mostly due to people relocating.

Public information officer Joan Gould said the county is looking for ways to get feedback from people who don’t normally show up to government meetings.

“What we really want to focus on is the people who don’t normally participate in those things, which means that we’re going to have to do a little bit of outreach and really work to get to these people,” she said. “So, we talked about some things like setting up a table at the senior center or at the library and kind of catching people as they’re walking in.”

The county general plan doesn’t apply to cities or towns, just the unincorporated areas of Wasatch County. Places like Heber and Midway create their own general plans. But Gould said the county’s goal is to complement the municipalities’ visions and develop policies that support the whole region.

Corry asked the planning commission to weigh in on what kinds of questions the first round of community surveys should include. The commission will review a draft survey at its next meeting in February.

Community members will be invited to fill out the first survey about the general plan update later this winter.