Wasatch County leaders say they’re not backing down from their opposition to preliminary municipalities after a meeting with the governor’s office Aug. 28.
Utah’s preliminary municipality law lets landowners bypass local planners to create towns in mostly undeveloped areas. Summit and Wasatch county leaders have been vocal in their criticism of the program.
The county asked to meet with Gov. Spencer Cox’s office after being warned they could lose state funding over their stance on the 2024 law.
Councilmember Erik Rowland said Cox’s team asked the county to consider abandoning a resolution that would urge lawmakers to repeal the program.
“We just kind of laughed a little and said, ‘There’s not a reality that exists that we’re not going to pass that resolution,’” he said.
The council will vote on the document Wednesday, Sept. 2.
County Manager Dustin Grabau said it will include a list of concerns about the approval process for the towns.
“We believe that there are fundamental flaws with the law,” he said.
Those include worries about oversight of the towns, the approval process, infrastructure and affordable housing.
Still, local leaders say the meeting was “cordial” and included the potential for collaboration.
“What we’d actually really like is to be part of a stakeholder process for kind of going back to the drawing board and coming up with a new plan that better achieves the intended aims, which I think is actually building affordable and attainable housing for residents and workers in these communities,” Grabau said.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Besides asking the state to abandon the program, the county is also considering whether to wade into a related lawsuit.
Moab-area nonprofits are suing the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office in 7th District Court, arguing the preliminary municipality law is unconstitutional.
Rowland said Wasatch County may submit a “friend of the court” filing to back the nonprofits.
“We have no intention of backing down on this,” he said.
Local leaders are also talking with state legislators about potential changes to the law.
In the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions, bills attempting to reform preliminary municipalities have failed.
Rowland said the backlash against the program is indicative of broader issues in the state.
“We are reaching a breaking point in the state when it comes to taking away local control,” he said.
He pointed to the widespread opposition to the Stratos data center planned in Box Elder County. Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, who was involved in the project’s approval, lost his bid for reelection soon after.
The Wasatch County Council meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday at 25 N. Main St. in Heber. For a link to attend online, click here.
