![[FILE] An American flag and State of Utah flag fly at half mast near the Utah State Capitol. Gov. Spencer Cox ordered flags to be lowered at state facilities Monday in honor of the 9/11 tragedy.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a48c6ad/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4256x2832+0+0/resize/840x558!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8f%2F44%2F5e0d0dcc4630982df96e029459a8%2Fadobestock-158195647.jpeg)
Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson said Monday Wasatch Highlands, 2,700 acres east of Heber, can begin the journey to become a town.
It’s a preliminary municipality, a type of town allowed by a 2024 state law. It says up to three landowners can build and form a town in areas without residents or existing development.
Wasatch County Manager Dustin Grabau said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Feb. 17 Philo Development told the county it would apply for a town.
The land in question was once part of a larger development proposal, which both Heber and Wasatch County passed on. That’s now been split in two.
Philo’s town would have over 700 homes, a hotel, glamping and shopping.
Grabau said the county is processing a separate bid from the same developer on another 700 acres of state-owned trust lands.
“We've been working for the last maybe eight months on 144 units adjacent to this preliminary municipality [Wasatch Highlands],” the county manager said.
Philo Development previously told KPCW it’s not about bypassing county processes but instead making sure the project “stays on track” to help meet statewide housing supply goals and protect natural open space.
The state will solicit consultants to study whether Wasatch Highlands is feasible, meaning whether it could raise enough taxes to provide municipal services.
Grabau said he wasn’t expecting the second preliminary municipality called Bear Canyon — about 2,300 acres near the bottom of the Alpine Loop in Provo Canyon at the Utah-Wasatch county line.
“I know that the property owner in Provo Canyon has had ambitions to develop that property that hasn't been in alignment with the direction the council felt,” Grabau said. “Some of our preservation zones — we wanted to keep them as they were.”
Bear Canyon can’t start the incorporation process yet.
The lieutenant governor determined that Bear Canyon includes six landowners, three more than the maximum allowed.
But Utah law gives the landowners, who are members of the Ault family, a second chance. They have until May 14 to revise and resubmit their application.
Evan Ault and California-based attorney Steven Austin, who are listed as sponsors of the Bear Canyon incorporation, had not immediately responded to requests for comment Feb. 17.
It’s unclear if they’ll dispute the lieutenant governor’s findings or submit a new application with no more than three landowners.
Documents show the Ault family proposes a “resort community” with about 1,000 residential units — a mix of lodging, homes and rentals — plus a general store.
“This is something that I think is always going to be at issue, is counties tend to be more rural, more spread out, and our focus is on those lower density areas,” Grabau said. “And the state seems interested in pursuing more aggressive growth than what counties are naturally geared for.”
The 2024 law that allows for preliminary municipalities only permits two such applications to proceed statewide each year.
Two other applications came in after Bear Canyon and Wasatch Highlands and therefore could not be considered. They include another in Wasatch County south of Wallsburg and one in Summit County’s Browns Canyon.
