Judge halts development of Wasatch Peaks Ranch

The judge in the ongoing legal battle between five Morgan County residents and Morgan County and Wasatch Peaks Ranch issued a temporary restraining order Dec. 1. The order was in response to a request from the residents for a preliminary injunction against the other parties. That request was filed Oct. 18 after the Morgan County Commission approved the development of a subdivision (phase 3A) in the 12,000-acre Wasatch Peaks Ranch-owned property.  

After Morgan County rezoned the property as a resort special district in Oct. 2019, Whitney Croft, David Pike, Robert Bohman, Brandon Peterson, and Shelley sought to make the rezone the subject of a citizen referendum. However, after Morgan County rejected their application for a referendum petition based on technicalities, the five residents filed suit to preserve what they say is their constitutional right to bring the issue to the voters of Morgan County.

The case wound its way through district and supreme court and back again before Judge Noel S. Hyde issued an order on Sept. 15 allowing the referendum to proceed. The residents thought this would halt any development on the property but on the advice of its attorney Garrett Smith, Morgan County proceeded to approve the phase 3A subdivision. Morgan County has taken the position that any applications filed by Wasatch Peaks Ranch (such as for Phase 3A) before Hyde issued his Sept. ruling, have been essentially grandfathered in and that Hyde’s ruling only applied to new applications. 

The residents then filed a complaint asking the judge to prohibit Wasatch Peaks Ranch and Morgan County from proceeding with that or any other development until the referendum issues have been resolved.

“By accepting subdivision applications, approving them, and allowing the subdivision plats to be recorded, Morgan County and WPR are violating the injunction in Utah Const. Art. VI prohibiting the effectiveness of an ordinance while a referendum is pending,” their complaint says.

The temporary restraining order was apparently in anticipation of a Dec. 6 hearing before Hyde to consider issuing the preliminary injunction. Although Hyde’s deliberations from that hearing or any subsequent order have not yet been made public as of press time, it appears that Hyde believes the five residents have a case against Morgan County and the developer.

In his Dec. 1 order, the judge prohibited any action by the developer or county for 14 days. Hyde agreed with the residents that the Utah Constitution indicates that with a potential citizen referendum on the original zoning ordinance, Morgan County and Wasatch Peaks Ranch cannot move forward with any element of the development until the issue is decided by voters or the petitioners fail to get enough signatures to get the original ordinance on the ballot within the allotted time frame. 

“Utah law recognizes the citizens’ right to pursue referenda as a fundamental constitutional right under the Utah Constitution,” he wrote. “… The court rules in this case that the alleged violation or disregard of this fundamental right is a sufficient irreparable injury to meet this requirement for the requested temporary restraining order.”

“Because the ordinance at issue, in this case, has been determined by the court – in a separate case involving the same parties - to be properly referable to the voters, Plaintiffs have established a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their underlying claims,” he continued.

If approved, the preliminary injunction would cease all development until the courts decide the merits of the case.λ