The Utah Lieutenant Governor’s office is allowing a proposal for a new community, Wasatch Highlands, to be considered for incorporation. The proposal includes 700 homes, a hotel, “glamping” and retail development projects on a 2,700-acre parcel of land east of Heber City — much to the ch agrin of Wasatch County officials like County Manager Dustin Grabau, who said the project presents a slew of challenges for the county.  Greg Whitehead, a partner with Pleasant Grove-based Philo Ventures, is the primary sponsor of the Wasatch Highlands project. Whitehead did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.  An incorporation petition is the first step in the process of creating a preliminary municipality such as Wasatch Highlands. A preliminary municipality, by a Utah state law created in 2024, allows up to three landowners in unincorporated areas to start developing a town without existing residents. These types of entities have control over zoning and land use but not taxation. State law allows two applications for a preliminary municipality to be considered each year, and Wasatch Highlands meets the requirements for a feasibility study to be conducted. The state has 90 days to hire a consultant to do so. The feasibility study will determine whether the town’s proposed boundaries could support itself economically. The consultants have 120 days to study the potential population, demographics, tax base, five-year cost and revenue projections, risk and opportunities, analysis of new revenue sources and the fiscal impacts.  Incorporation can proceed if the town, in this case, Wasatch Highlands, can bring in at least a 5% budget surplus. The results will be presented in a public hearing at a future date. Unlike a full incorporation, requesting a preliminary municipality gives the developers more time to meet the 100-person population requirement for incorporation. Wasatch Highlands would be required to file to incorporate as a town once the population exceeds 100 people. The application states the first phase is projected to have at least 100 residents when completed. Phase one would include approximately 82 single-family homes, a hotel with approximately 200 rooms, and approximately 100 nightly rental or glamping units spread over almost 146 acres, according to the application. Subsequent phases will include: Phase two: approximately 100 nightly rentals and/or glamping units on around 17 acres Phase three: approximately 150 single-family homes on around 150 acres Phase four: approximately 101 single-family homes on around 25 acres Phase five: approximately 122 single-family homes on around 256 acres Phase six: approximately 81 single-family homes on around 460 acres Phase seven: approximately 88 single-family homes on around 107 acres Phase eight: approximately 88 single-family homes on around 213 acres Phase nine: approximately 101,408 square feet of commercial space on around 16 acres Phase 10: approximately 52,468 square feet of commercial space on 8 acres The developer also said at least two additional phases will include varied mixed uses “including open space and parks, and potentially including nightly rental resorts, hotel, civic buildings, commercial areas, and a mix of residential unit types, including additional affordable housing and a wide range of single-family home lots, and resort-type uses on approximately 1,298.49 acres.” Wasatch Highlands’ project boundary encompasses acreage on the northeast corner of Heber City limits. It is adjacent to the Red Ledges neighborhood. The move to incorporate as a preliminary municipality comes after Heber City officials rejected the Wasatch Highlands proposal, which Wasatch County supported. In 2024, Philo Development attempted without success to annex into Heber City. Wasatch County, according to Grabau, originally planned for the Wasatch Highlands land to be part of preservation efforts. That’s the case for the proposed town of Bear Canyon as well — another preliminary municipality incorporation request in Wasatch County submitted to the state last month. However, it appears to exceed the maximum number of landowners allowed under the state law, so an amended request must be submitted by May to proceed. Now, Wasatch County may have to grapple with a new set of challenges. Officials have been planning for rapid growth, but Grabau said that does not mean the county has the ability to plan for a preliminary municipality such as Wasatch Highlands.  “I think, in both of these cases, these were areas that the county was not projecting growth in, and our infrastructure isn’t sized to intentionally accommodate them,” Grabau said. “Both of these cases, these are some high-intensity uses of areas that we otherwise have planned for preservation.” Infrastructure, traffic and taxpayer services are just three possible obstacles facing the county if Wasatch Highlands moves forward. Grabau said regional transportation improvements would be needed for the project to proceed. Lake Creek Road, or Heber City’s Center Street, would take the brunt of the impact.  “That road has never been planned and does not have adequate right of way to accommodate a significant increase in traffic,” Grabau said. “If that’s not included in the (feasibility) analysis, and they go ahead and proceed to build without making regional transportation improvements, that puts a burden on all the county residents to the benefit of three property owners.” When asked if there is adequate infrastructure in the county to account for water and sewer with Wasatch Highlands, Grabau answered “no.”  “When you’re talking about high-density, high-intensity uses, that would require developing additional water infrastructure, additional water sources,” Grabau said.  He said those are challenges that would not necessarily fall on the county, but would certainly affect the feasibility of the project. Grabau said the county would not be under any obligation to provide water or sewer services because the project is outside of the county’s projected growth area.  “Honestly, I don’t know that we would have the ability even if we wanted to,” Grabau said.  Grabau said if some services, like Wasatch County Fire District impact fees, are not assessed, that may put a proportionate burden on the rest of the county through other tax sources to make up the difference of the increased service level. The state feasibility study examines the tax base, five-year cost, revenue projects, risk and opportunities, analysis of new revenue sources and the fiscal impacts of the preliminary municipality. Grabau said the 2024 state law poses a problem if planning in Wasatch County becomes somewhat unpredictable.  “That, theoretically, one to three property owners, anywhere, in any county, can have a dramatic shift in planned demands on infrastructure is impossible to plan for,” Grabau said.  One piece of legislation, House Bill 510, proposed during the ongoing general session, may change how much sway a county has in municipal incorporations. H.B. 510 includes an amendment where an applicant must comply with county consultation requirements, including a written explanation of the planned preliminary municipality. Upon receiving that explanation, Wasatch County could meet with the applicant and offer “any information the county determines is useful.” “That would give us a little more say in the process,” Grabau said. “All of these projects are going to be unique and I think it all hinges on: Just because someone would like to do something in an area doesn’t mean that it’s financially feasible to do it in a way that is sustainable.” The proposed incorporations can be found on the Lieutenant Governor’s office website. Wasatch-Highlands-Intitial-Request-for-Feasibility-StudyDownload The post Wasatch Highlands: The new town Wasatch County didn’t ask for appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less