Spring Lake residents resist future annexations

SANTAQUIN, Utah County — Protests over a 1,500-acre annexation last year still resonate among Spring Lake residents despite an attempt by Santaquin officials to work with them over land use.

Developer Rimrock Properties initiated the controversial annexation to bring some 600 acres into Santaquin just south of unincorporated Spring Lake. Because the connection to Santaquin was so small and created a peninsula, the annexation was enlarged, city planner Dennis Marker said.

Now, the boundary runs along the west side of state Route 198, north of the original request, where no one signed the annexation petition.

Potentially as many as 900 homes on 1-acre lots could be built in the recently annexed area, or as few as 260 5-acre ranchettes, Marker said.

Santaquin officials are updating the city's general plan, the document that guides developing land use, and have completely encircled Spring Lake, which many residents see as a threat toward future annexations and their country lifestyle.

Many Spring Lake residents who attended Thursday's general plan open house, which laid out Santaquin's plans, expressed a desire to be left alone.

Resident Joy Benson said the community should organize to maintain their rural lifestyle.

"All we need is 51 percent of the vote," Benson said.

— Rodger L. Hardy