West-side races focus on rural lifestyle

For residents of west-side cities in Salt Lake and Tooele counties, the popularity of their rural lifestyle comes with a price.

Candidates for city council seats in Bluffdale, Riverton, West Jordan, Herriman — and even out in Tooele and Grantsville — say growth, and how to handle it, are the No. 1 priority in their cities.

More rooftops mean the demand for city services will increase, and so will the need to fund them. Almost across the board, council candidates said all of their cities need to see more shopping carts being pushed about in new retail stores to help pay those costs.

More and more, candidates say, sales tax revenue from retail businesses has become a necessity to fuel city government, with roughly 30 percent of property tax revenue trickling down from counties.

Herriman

Few places depict the dilemma between growth and funding it as this community in the far southwest corner of Salt Lake County.

The fight over preserving a rural lifestyle has led two current council members to defend their positions from a third candidate, meaning only one incumbent could make it through the election.

Harmon Butterfield said he is running for City Council for the first time out of concern for preserving rural life in the face of a constantly growing population.

"We try to promote ourselves out here as trying to maintain a rural lifestyle, and a lot of times that hasn't been the case out here," Butterfield said.

Butterfield said he feels the City Council has approved subdivisions with lots too small for a rural area.

"We don't want houses built that are 15 feet across from each other," particularly near livestock, Butterfield said.

Butterfield said his family used to run one of the largest hog operations in the area. He now owns a trucking company that hauls produce.

Incumbent Keith Adams agrees that growth needs to be managed. Adams said the city must design a community that is friendly to families, has open spaces and provides areas for commercial growth. Because Herriman is a rural community, horses should also be kept in mind in city planning.

Adams is director of information technology for a family-owned Utah company and is seeking a second four-year term.

Fellow incumbent Raquel DeLuca said Herriman needs more restaurants and other commercial attractions that will have residents spending their money in Herriman and not elsewhere. Unlike other cities, DeLuca said, Herriman is lucky in the fact that the city has survived mainly on building licenses and fees.

"Time is everything for Herriman," she said, adding the city must invest in stronger commercial growth for its future.