Standing room only crowd protests planned resort in Ivins

A standing room only crowd turned out for the Ivins Planning Commission to protest a proposed new resort development, Ivins, Utah, Sept. 4, 2018 | Photo by Ryan Rees, St. George News

IVINS — An angry, standing room only crowd of nearly 100 residents turned out at the Ivins City Planning Commission meeting Tuesday night to protest a planned Snow Canyon Resort in the city.

However, the meeting only resulted in a presentation report by Mike Rodgriquez, building and zoning administrator.

Commission member Adel Murphy told the audience there would be no action taken and no public comment at the meeting.

However, Mark Coons blurted out from the audience, “Nobody here wants this. We will get legal counsel and we will fight this.”

Rodriguez then outlined the proposed plan, which would contain two hotels and 1,056 building lots on the 113-acre land southeast of the corner of Puerto and 400 South. The land currently is zoned R8 with a 5-acre minimum.

A land use change and zoning change would be required if the proposed development moves forward, Rodriguez said.

He said public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council would be required for both actions, at which time the public would be allowed to speak.

City Attorney Dale Coulam noted that the commission had not received an application for the development, which would be among the first steps required.

Because the developer is a limited liability corporation, the identity of the developer is not known at this time, he added.

Coulam said future meetings are pending the application process and citizens can receive email notices of future meetings, which he encouraged them to sign up for with the registrar.

However, another citizen offered a different choice.

“The city should send a letter to every homeowner in Ivins,” he said.

Most of the audience filed out of the meeting as Murphy returned to the rest of the agenda.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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16 Comments

  • beacon September 5, 2018 at 7:55 am

    Glad to see citizens are passionate enough about something that they are actually willing to come out and speak up. Most just seem to stay in front of their TVs, computers or phones – not to say those communication avenues are not important, but they should not be the only methods. Hope people are keeping an eye out for other opportunities to participate in events that deal with issues affecting our lives and futures. Just letting leaders make decisions that may not be in citizens’ best interest does not help ensure our democracy, democratic republic, whatever you want to call it.

  • Not_So_Much September 5, 2018 at 9:17 am

    beacon, you have that right. We get the government we deserve. Representative republic by the way.

  • justsaying September 5, 2018 at 10:00 am

    Dear St. George news, please keep us updated as to further meetings regarding this matter. I was not aware of this meeting and had I known would have attended. I am NOT for turning Ivins into a destination for others, this is my quiet little hometown and want nothing more than to keep it that way. If visitors want to drive up and see the beauty fine, then they can return to their hotels along St. George Blvd, Bluff Street, or any other fine establishment located outside of Ivins. How is it that the people that get put into these positions of power and planning never seem to listen to the people of the community? What do they get out of all this? A notch on their resume so they can move onto the next small town and destroy it too? Please keep us informed.
    I am against this or any other project that tries to turn Ivins into a vacation spot.

    • redrock4 September 6, 2018 at 4:04 pm

      Oh, they listen to the people in the community. But, see our perception of progress hinges on growth. So it has to happen – in Ivins, Kayenta, everywhere. We have to grow our community, create jobs, industry. You drank the Kool-Aid and now you have the consequences. Enjoy the amenities at the hotel 🙂

  • hiker75 September 5, 2018 at 11:36 am

    It is easy enough to know about the meetings. Just contact the city. Give them your email address and ask that they send future planning commission and/or city council meeting agendas to you. They are happy to do so.

  • Steve September 5, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    “would contain two hotels and 1,056 building lots on 113 acres” – That’s pretty dense housing!

    • tazzman September 5, 2018 at 4:13 pm

      Yep. That is a huge change from 5 acre lots. 1,000+ lots on 113 acres sounds like another Sun River.

  • redrock4 September 5, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    Kayenta is beautiful and right down the street from Ivins. It’s a better place for the resort, and we don’t want it in Ivins! There is the possibility that we could partner with the people in Kayenta (which is essentially Ivins – West wing) and see if there is space toward the North end for the resort. This might just turn out to be a win-win for everyone.

  • tazzman September 5, 2018 at 4:10 pm

    So the Ivins government wants to change low density residential to high density with 1,500+ homes and hotels? That would destroy the character of the entire town and surrounding communities.

    • redrock4 September 6, 2018 at 10:04 am

      That’s why I think Kayenta is a better place for the project. It’s going in somewhere so it may as well be there at the North end of Kayenta. Ivins is a cute place the way it is now – where else can you have a grandfathered old trailer and a couple of pit bulls in the yard?

      • iceplant September 6, 2018 at 6:12 pm

        Pipe down you. Kayenta will do nothing of the sort.
        Stop spreading your nonsense. Do you even live in Ivins?

        • redrock4 September 7, 2018 at 6:05 pm

          This is a time for action – not arguing. I propose they downsize a bit but proceed with the resort in Ivins if Kayenta isn’t an option. We have Sentierre now in addition to Red Mountain and they’ve brought jobs. As far as I know they’ve been good stewards. Well, except for Sentierre ripping up and leveling that whole area at the mouth of Padre. We have to make sacrifices for growth like the proposed parkway advocates said. Let’s be open to development in Ivins.

  • mesaman September 5, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    I can’t believe you folks would deprive a poor developer a chance to become a multimillionaire over some tiny little high density population complete with two hotels so the traffic congestion can flourish. Remember this, every new project with it’s accompanying population increase is another wedge between us and the Lake Powell fiasco.

  • Mike P September 6, 2018 at 10:28 am

    You can complain all you want, say NIMBY, oh, you’ll delay it for awhile, they’ll change it a bit, but you’re only prolonging the inevitable. If the city wants it, it WILL happen. It’s not about the residents of this fine city, it’s just $$$$

  • utahdiablo September 6, 2018 at 10:14 pm

    Where the Heck was the Outrage when they got the green light for the Tuacahn Resort Crap they are building now, what a Disaster….might as well tear down Angles Landing and put a hotel on top of that, would you care then?….again get to the meetings and raise cane…or lose your way of life forever

  • scooby September 21, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    i dont believe Congress appropriated the land to the trust for commercial development….https://trustlands.utah.gov/our-agency/what-are-trust-lands/

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