From Deseret News archives:

High court rules against gravel pit expansion

Published: Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004 9:12 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
The Utah Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Salt Lake County Planning Commission violated its own zoning ordinances when it granted an expansion permit to a Parleys Canyon gravel pit.

In a ruling released Tuesday, the high court upheld a lower district court ruling that found the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment violated their own standards in allowing Harper Excavating Inc. to expand its operation from 11.5 acres to 62.2 acres.

The expansion was challenged by the local environmentalist group Save Our Canyons, which unsuccessfully appealed to the county to reconsider.

According to the high court ruling, the gravel pit is located within zones that define their purpose as "to preserve the natural character of the foothills and canyons by establishing standards for foothill and canyon development."

County planning staff justified granting the expansion by saying the land use was classified as a "mine" by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, which would provide a permitted conditional use in the area's forest-recreation zone.

Save Our Canyons filed suit against Salt Lake County in 3rd District Court, arguing that the county ignored forest-recreation zoning ordinances and guidelines of the Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone in granting the expansion.

Story continues below
Judge Sandra Peuler ruled that the county failed to follow its own ordinances. Following the lower court ruling, Salt Lake County appealed to the Utah Supreme Court.

In its unanimous decision, the high court concluded that gravel pit operations do not fall under the definition of a mine. Justices also held that the county board of adjustment "acted illegally when it upheld the Planning Commission's decision to approve Harper's request to expand its existing gravel pit operations."

Tuesday's ruling was celebrated by Save Our Canyons as precedent setting.

"This case could be used by future plaintiffs to support their legal arguments against the county in future litigation over related issues," said executive director Lisa Smith.

The gravel pit, located about two miles up the canyon, has been in operation since 1886 and has been owned and managed by several companies.


E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

previousnext

Latest comments

what an awesome game, really the only one that we can reasonably win. The...

Editorial: Lessons from Berlin

interesting | 1:56 p.m It's more than the "Tear down this wall"...

Letters: Term 'Latino' misused

I guess I would call myself an American mutt. Born in American with a mix of...

Letters: Will wrong on warming

Warm, cold, tepid, nothing you can do about it anyway. Short of eliminating...

Re: Not about the money. Other good reasons to want TCU to win 1. I...

U. hopes to keep clicking

It's embarrassing when you're 8-1 and ranked #16 ... and your fans have...

Mapleton rejects mtn. airport bid

Isn't it somewhere by Scipio?

What fascinates me is the contrast between the tone taken by the DN writers...

Editorial: Lessons from Berlin

interesting | 1:56 p.m. If your posting contains mis-representations it...

Yeah if Utah beats TCU then they would certainly lose enough skill and to...

Advertisements
Advertisement