Council Report
by Lynda Williams
I attended a City Council meeting last night and, wow, things are happening!
Presentation
Another large project was presented by RE Developers. Doug Towler, project manager, made the presentation. There was no volume for the YouTube recording so I was unable to verify what he said in the meeting, but the proposal for the project, Solara, is linked here.
According to the linked proposal, this mixed-use development of 1,556 units (flats and townhomes, including rentals) is located two miles south of Anderson Junction on the west side of I-15 in an unincorporated area of Washington County. The site is composed of approximately 200 gross acres, bounded by BLM property to the north and east and privately owned property to the south and west. The Silver Reef neighborhood, El Dorado Hills, is approximately two miles to the southwest.
One possibility is that Toquerville would annex these 200 acres. Towler said his group, previously operating under the business name SmartFi Toquerville, was the financiers of the previous project. They took it over from the original developers and will now develop it themselves. The previous project, Zions Landing Resort, was adjacent to the proposed ARC sport complex, another development that previously fell through.
According to what I heard Towler say in the meeting, these developers will do the basic infrastructure, divide the acreage into pods (sections?), and then sell the pods to individual developers for residential development. Units could range from “attainable” housing (does that mean affordable?) to single-family, multiple-family, apartments, hotels, flats, and luxury homes. They envision a residential community with little commercial.
PIDS
The council had an involved discussion on Public Infrastructure Districts (PID) and limiting the number of PIDS within Toquerville, which already has several. The council invited someone to the podium to address this topic, but they never introduced him. They called him Matt, and whichever law firm or company he is with represents all the PIDs in Washington County and the nearly 50 PIDs across the state.
They discussed the proposed creation of the Boulder Ridge Public Infrastructure District (PID) located on approximately 80 acres in Anderson Junction. There was much talk about creating a Special Assessment District vs. relying on property taxes for funding. Matt said that paying with property taxes was generally best, but was often met with opposition.
From what I could read, a PID is a way to finance the necessary infrastructure in development and allow a smoother transition when the cities need to step in and oversee that infrastructure. This is one definition I found:
A Public Infrastructure District (PID) is a local government entity created to organize financing for public improvements in a specific community. A PID is governed by community members and has the power to levy additional property taxes, impose fees, and issue bonds.
Utah Code §17D-4 establishes the parameters for PIDs in Utah. PIDs are similar to Community Reinvestment Agencies, Special Service Districts, and other limited-purpose local government entities.
So it seems that PIDs are considered an effective means to carry out development, but what if the majority of residents don’t want development? Although we don’t have the survey results, it was previously stated that most Toquerville residents do not want development. If that’s the case, are PIDs of benefit to current residents?
There will be further discussion on PIDs at the next (Sept. 20) City Council Meeting.
a sales tax vs Property tax increase
Hurricane Valley Fire District reported that the sales tax increase was put off this year. The goal is to drop a property tax increase in favor of raising the sales tax so tourists will contribute to funding.
grants (or free money with strings)
The city manager, Afton Moore, and treasurer, Ruth Evans, were at a convention for the Utah League of Cities and Towns. From the SLC location, Afton shared information that was being presented at the convention.
She also ran through numerous grants that the city has acquired or is attempting to acquire. These included a grant of $38,000 to clean up Ash and LaVerkin creeks and another multiyear grant of several million dollars. With that grant, one priority project will be to bury the power lines along Toquer Blvd.
An ATV Club has applied for a grant to improve the road to Toquerville Falls.
Landscape Standards
Some highlights from the discussion on Resolution 2023.XX—WCWCD Landscape standards included:
Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) has a plan for landscape standards with a goal of preserving water. Toquerville must adopt their standards but can require additional conditions.
Toquerville will start the process of getting its own ordinance in place. New rules will apply to new construction only.
WCWCD is offering a grass rebate. They are offering $2.00 ft. to those volunteering to remove some lawn. Citizens may apply for this. However, there may be a wait until the city has a qualifying water ordinance, according to the WCWCD website.
“Applications from Hurricane, La Verkin, Toquerville and unincorporated areas of Washington County will be conditionally accepted into the program. Under this approach, the district will conduct all required inspections and collect all necessary documentation, but final rebate payments will only be made when a qualifying water efficiency ordinance is adopted in the participant’s jurisdiction.”
Big Brother Finds another way in
The council voted in favor of adopting a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) for the Transparent Billing Grant with Yoppify. This is an internal Software Program.
This system will save 6,000-acre ft. of water and will enable mass communication and enable the city to communicate with residents by giving immediate information to all citizens simultaneously. The software will run for three years. Toquerville will have control over what information goes out to citizens.
Attorney Snow expressed concerns about Big Brother watching over us and having too much access to Toquerville information. (Go, Attorney Snow!) Afton said nothing will go out to Yoppify without the city's consent. My guess is that depends on what carrots are dangled.
If adopted, Southern Utah will have the most comprehensive data collection in the state. IS THAT A GOOD THING?
In my humble opinion
It appears there is much interest in our small, quaint corner of the world. Things will change fast now. I left the meeting with the feeling that all this interest and growth is going to cost us dearly in higher taxes and our country lifestyle. And with all this growth and Federal money comes a whole new set of problems, rules, regulations, and hooks. We need concerned citizens to be involved and informed!