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Tuesday, December 04, 2007Becoming a Town
By Dennis Stowell
Utah State Senator, District 28 Clearly we need to amend last year's HB 466, in a way that empowers citizens as the gatekeepers. The proposal for a new Town Incorporation Process (for populations of 100 to 1000 people) mirrors the incorporation steps for cities with populations greater than 1000 which is currently on the books. The proposed new process: * Landowners file a petition with the County Clerk.Here's a flow chart (draft). I would appreciate comments on this proposal, especially from citizens who have lately been introduced to the unintended consequences of HB 466. How would this new process work for your community?
posted by The Senate Site at 10:39 PM | Link
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17 Comments:
P.S. The Political Subdivision Interim Committee worked all summer on a bill that reflects this process. It passed out of committee unanimously and will be debated in the 2008 legislative session.
Gee, here's another idea: make bribery for the purposes of incorporation illegal.
Question, Who votes? Those potentially affected or the whole County? I prefer the whole affected county since planning and zoning consistancy, which might be affected, is a county wide issue.
Requiring the election of City officers would probably take the "corporate" developer out of direct control of the development which is causing most of the problems. However, the county should still be in the loop to protect the citizens at large.(meaning nighborhoods, consistant planning, transportation coridors, tax base, cherry picking, etc.)
Why can property owners ONLY in a class 1 or 2 county exclude from being part of the incorperation? Are the citizens in "lower" class countys not entitled to the same rights as the "higher" class.
More important then getting the details of the revised bill perfect the EXISTING law needs to be repealed, suspended, revoked, revised or whatever ASAP and the existing petitions NOT grandfathered. We need to stop what is happening to our state first and debate a better process later.
My sincere hope is that the Utah Senate can undestand the very urgent need for HB466 to repealed or very drastically changed AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I believe that allowing any incorperations, including any that are in the works, to continue would be a big mistake for Utah.
Davis Didg:
Bribery is already illegal, for any purpose. What am I missing?
To MLK, re: Who votes?
That question has not yet been addressed in the bill. In the Ruby's Inn situation, it should have been the whole county. In Salt Lake County, it may not be necessary for the entire county to vote. My thought is to let the county commission make that call - probably as part of the public hearing process. What do you think about that?
If the commissioners call a county-wide vote, the county should probably bear the cost.
To Ryan Taylor:
My bill echoes the incorporation process for cities (> 1000 people) and that provision was in there. I can tell you a little more about the reason, but need to do a quick fact-check first.
To Ryan Taylor and the Gustin Family:
If this new proposal becomes law, it would supersede HB466. We still need to address what gets grandfathered and what does not. Remember The First Law: 38 – 15 – 1. I like how this proposal is shaping up but many other strong minds need to be convinced and vote yes before this bill becomes law.
Thank you for your feedback. Please keep it coming. You can also email me at dstowell@utahsenate.org.
Dennis
I feel that the incorporating party (developer perhaps) MUST get the majority support of the affected property owners before the county can even consider the petition. It does not make sense to even initiate the process until they have the majority support.
I would like to see that any county can exclude their property from proposed incorporation. I do like the fact that the people affected will be voting on whether proposed incorporation should even occur and that the town officials would be elected and not just appointed. I would like to see that the requirements for submitting an incorporation petition requires the majority of support in the area to be incorporated. I think the changes you are proposing are heading in the right direction. We have felt very powerless under the current law.
I am glad to see that there are people working to give us citizens the necessary power we need to protect our homes and communities. I cannot say this enough - that the proposed incorporations that are pending MUST be required to start over once HB 466 is amended. It is my firm belief that there are bad people taking advantage of a bad law and once the law is fixed their incorporation proposals should not be allowed to proceed under the former law. I can understand the towns that have finished the process by the time the change comes around but the pending ones must be stopped!
Senator Stowell,
I agree with the above comments. We have been getting hammered by this developer and it would be a shame to let him use the unintended consequences HB466 to make hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of regular citizens.
If we don't repeal this bill there should be a requirement for the new town to abide by the existing building codes for three years. Letting developers create their own town and then cannibalize the building code to make lots more money at the expense of the county and citizens is a recipe for disaster.
Thanks for your efforts in getting these inequities addressed.
Thank you for instituting a change in HB 466.
The law as it presently stands is inordinately in favor of the "large" land owner (developer). Protection must be given to those who are being included as mere fodder for meeting the required population.
Wasatch County now has at least four of these incorporation being considered. We are growing fast enough without the new incorporation.
I believe there are many who included in the incorporated area may not even be aware that they are to be included.
The primary reason for incorporating seems to be to avoid current zoning regulation within the county and gain total control for the developer over Land Use.
The individual small land owners and residents need more control over their destiny than is current allowed.
state law has passed hb466 that has been proven to step on individuals rights and gives a lot of power to individuals that are majority land owners(developers) i feel a law that allows another person to take away rights of the majority should be suspended until the bill can be amended to protect the majority i feel that there should be no grandfathering the issue needs to be voted on by individuals that are in the proposed areas that are affected!
this law is not fair to long time residents that will be sucked into a large development with no say in their future. Ive lived in Wasatch county all my life. Where I live now in Center Creek puts me in line for a road or a sewer plant in my yard. A matter of which I and my current neighbors would have no say in if we are annexed into a new devlopemant. We would be the low man on the pole. Please take another look at this ridiculus law. Doug
Dear Sen. Stovall, AND all members of the Utah state legislature.
The last time I looked this country was founded on one-person-one-vote, the law you have passed gives absolute power to whomever has the most property and can convince at least 5% to go along with him. HB466 clearly stands to trample the rights of the citizens of Utah and set a precedent that our country has stood against since 1776, "Taxation Without Representation". All of you need to stand up and admit your error and fix this by either repealing or amending HB466, with no grandfathering of pending applications, to represent the wishes of the people who elected you. Additionally, I will advise you to allow any town created under this law to retroactively vote on whether they wish their incorporation to remain or the newly formed town to be dissolved.
One developer in Wasatch county has already petitioned the State Supreme Court to be allowed to go forward against the opposition of the clear majority. I should think that the court should first determine if this law is even constitutional in its failure to address the democratic rights of the people who will be affected.
The really insidious part of 466 is its ability to suck people in involuntarily by simply listing their names, then leaving them no way, effectively, to opt out. If the opt-out provisions were liberalized, that would be a start. 466 is a badly-written, ill-conceived piece of legislation that needs immediate revision or repeal, with NO relief for the rapacious developers who are trying to take advantage of its stupid provisions to the detriment of landowners. It is a perverse, converse twist on what happened in Israel/Palestine, and we all know what THAT led to.
Honorable Senator Stowell, 60% of your colleagues "approve of the Utah Realtor Association" (Kyler, Kohler, and Ostermiller) and their constant interferance in legislative affairs by drafting legislation favorable to only their "business interests" and manipulative lobbying efforts to kill off any legislation which is fair to most residents and citizens. They openly brag about how effective they are at doing it too. They sell citizens and our rights off to protect their 6% commission rates. We the people are on to them and their games. With you taking on an apparent lapdog (Killpack the sponsor of HB 466) many of us will be watching to see just who votes for and against your bill to repeal this awful pro developer legislation. You are earning our respect and appreciation for your stances to reform property taxation and repeal this ill conceived and gross legislation (HB 466). Killpack, and others with similar bought and paid for loyalties and Realtor Association sponsorship, must be shown the disdain and public disgust they have earned. Disdain and distrust for bought and paid for legislation and legislators which subvert the common good of the people in exchange for lining their own pockets. Were it not for lax Utah laws, these people would likely be in jail for corruption, graft and racketeering. Continue on the high road SEnator Stowell, it serves us all well and you are appreciated for it.
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