Potential town expansion plan passes in Springdale

Springdale Town Hall, Springdale, Utah, Dec. 6, 2021 | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — During its Wednesday meeting, the Springdale Town Council approved a policy establishing expansion boundaries for the town if it is ever needed.

The state requires all municipalities to create a plan to evaluate growth and a property’s physical positioning if a property owner requests annexation. The town did not have this in place. The Springdale policy covers the unincorporated area to the southeast of the city. The new policy would require protected areas next to national parks.

The Trees Ranch near Springdale and Zion National Park, Washington County Utah, unspecified date | Photo provided by the Mirr Ranch Group, St. George News

“We anticipate an annexation applicant to apply in a manner that protects sensitive areas. That places priority on open space. That upholds our general plan, and that there is not a financial impact due to infrastructure on the town,” Tom Dansie, director of community development, said.

Springdale is surrounded almost entirely by federal land (Zion National Park and Bureau of Land Management) and the Town of Rockville. Plus, there are approximately 2,000 acres of privately owned land in unincorporated Washington County adjacent to the southeast corner of the town.

The plan will guide Springdale and allow changes to be made down the road if desired. Dansie said it would put into place criteria to evaluate future annexation requests from property owners. The town’s planning commission has also recommended adopting the new policy.

Christine Richmond, a consultant with architecture and planning firm GSBS, addressed the council with her recommendations. She presented a slide with a map of the area that could be annexed.

A view of Springdale’s main road through town, Springdale, Utah, unspecified date | Photo provided by Flickr, St. George News

“The purpose of an annexation policy plan is to provide policy direction for consideration of petitions in the future. It doesn’t actually change the status of any of the property within the boundary of what we’re looking at,” Richmond said.

The map illustrated 2000 acres of unincorporated property on the boundary of Springville, surrounded by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property and by Zion National Park property. She said it is the only area that could be potentially annexed to Springdale.

“It is a large area that’s currently in single ownership. But it is the only area left that isn’t either within a federal designation or part of Springdale,” Richmond said. “When you go through the process. We need to look at 20-year population growth as we think about what might happen with the property. We want to consider the character of the existing community and the potential need for residential, commercial and industrial land to accommodate that 20-year population.”

The plan establishes the following criteria for the annexation:

  • Development of the area will be consistent with the Town’s General Plan, particularly the General Plan direction on the preservation of open space and sensitive lands.
  • The annexation will not require an extension of current municipal services of water, sewer, roads, trails, or parks.
  • Avoids gaps between or overlaps with the expansion areas of other municipalities.
  • Considers population growth projections for the municipality and adjoining areas for the next 20 years.
  • Considers current and projected costs of infrastructure, urban services, and public facilities necessarycto facilitate full development of the area within the municipality; and to expand the infrastructure, services, and facilities into the area being considered for inclusion in the expansion area.
  • Considers, in conjunction with the municipality’s general plan, the need over the next 20 years for additional land suitable for residential, commercial, and industrial development.
  • Considers the reasons for including agricultural lands, forests, recreational areas and wildlife management areas in the municipality.

Pam Inghram, a planning commission member, previously recommended adding an update to the annexation plan. The commission and the Town Council approved the new language that states, “Prior to annexation, the town should survey the area to ensure that sensitive areas including areas contiguous to other publicly owned sensitive lands are inventoried and protected by the annexation agreement related to sensitive lands adjacent to public lands for the Town of Springdale.”

Mayor Barbara Bruno has previously stated the town would not go after people’s private property. The policy is a way for Springdale to be notified if someone wants land to be annexed. For example, some of the Trees Ranch property is in the annexation plan area. The rest of the ranch is in Washington County.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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