Wasatch County’s general plan includes everything from transportation needs to environmental resources to housing strategy.
At a meeting July 15, councilmembers finalized the first comprehensive update of the document in 25 years.
A lot has changed for the community since 2001. The population has more than doubled, housing costs have soared and the economy’s focus has turned to resorts.
Assistant Planning Director Austin Corry said one goal of the update was to make the plan accessible to county residents. Another was to set policies based on what matters to the community.
“Those policies that you set should be grounded solidly in values that the community wants to protect,” he said.
Valuing the county’s rural heritage, for instance, might mean a policy of concentrating new growth near existing cities and towns.
Corry met with each municipality to discuss how the general plan could affect them. The county also had open houses, surveys, comment periods and many meetings over the past year and a half.
County Manager Dustin Grabau said the new document reflects what matters most to residents.
“I think this is an amazing representation of the community values that Austin and our team has put together over the last 18 months,” he said.
Corry recommended an annual report so leaders can gauge whether they’re meeting the general plan goals and “course correct” if needed.
He added the county will continue to update the document as it implements the plan.
“What do you do once you hit that goal?” he said. “You should go back and readdress the plan and say, ‘Well, what’s our new goal, then?’ – not leave the plan saying we did it already.”
To learn more about the county’s new general plan, click here.
