GRANTSVILLE — Funding for an industrial park in Tulare County is opposed by some residents and environmentalists, but is part of county officials’ plan to bring more jobs to the state’s fast-growing region.
“Our city is growing rapidly and more people are traveling outside of Tulare County, which means they are spending more time away from home,” said Tulare County Councilman Jared Hamner.
According to the 2023 Economic Development Report, nearly 75% of residents travel outside Tulare County for work.
Hamner said the county is in a difficult situation because it relies on commuting for jobs. Commercial spending and the tax revenue it generates will be siphoned off to Salt Lake County. Roads become bottlenecks, making it more difficult to retain local talent.
“We want to attract companies that pay good wages,” Hamner said.
The county worked with the Utah Inland Ports Authority to conduct a feasibility study to identify various areas that could be developed as industrial parks.
“We had a very thoughtful and thorough conversation with (the inland port team) and said this is what we’re looking for and this is the way we’re looking,” Hamner said. I am.
A 243-acre parcel of land approximately nine miles north of Grantsville was identified as the ideal location for the project area. Tulare County Manager Andy Welch said three key factors were considered when selecting that particular location: existing manufacturing zoning, proximity to I-80, and adjacent rail infrastructure. said.
In April 2023, Tulare County passed a resolution designating the project area. The Port Authority approved it in December.
Approximately 162 of those acres are owned by Zenith Bolinder LLC, a partnership between longtime Utah developers Zenith Development and the owners of Bolinder Resources LLC.
“They want to see it as an industrial zone, but no one is investing because the local government doesn’t have the money,” Zenith Development Managing Director Chuck Ackerlow told KSL.com.
According to Ackerlow, being included in the Utah Inland Port project area will give the project greater visibility to potential business and “will also give us access to the bonded market, since the site also has sewer lines. There was no water.” There was no electricity or gas, and it was just the ground. ”
In March, it created public infrastructure districts that can use bond sales to fund construction of local roads, utilities, and sewer systems. This infrastructure was to be owned by the public district under an agreement with the county, which believed it did not have sufficient resources to serve the somewhat remote area.
The tax difference funding would be returned to the school district for the duration of the 25-year agreement. Only the users of the industrial park will pay the tax.
According to a market and evaluation report commissioned in forming the public infrastructure district, 57% of those surveyed believe there should be a “significant effort” in economic development in Tuele County, and 37% They answered that they should make at least some effort. .
The district board on Aug. 30 approved the issuance of $80 million in tax difference bonds with interest and fees to be repaid over the next 25 to 30 years, Ackerlow said.
At a public hearing held on September 24th after the bond was issued, critics of the project area spoke out.
Salt Lake poet Nan Seymour warned developers: “Developing wetlands near lakes is reckless. There may be better or worse ways, but none of them are better.” He encouraged them as follows: To withdraw from a system that causes harm. ”
“This bond sale has no public purpose,” said Deeda Seed, an activist with the Center for Biological Diversity and one of Utah’s most consistent critics of the inland port. She claimed that no water resources analysis had been done and said in a press release that the bond issue would “fund privately owned, poorly regulated infrastructure.”
Her group, along with the Utah Association of Health and Environmental Physicians, filed a lawsuit against the Inland Port Authority in September, demanding that the group’s board rescind all actions taken over the past two years. The same two groups issued a formal letter asking for a moratorium on bond issuance. They also submitted 800 signatures opposing the bond sale.
Resident James Stephen said: “Even the developers themselves don’t believe this is viable as a business park. The whole thing is already up for sale.”
Summary map of aquatic resources in the Tooele Valley Project area. (Photo: Zenith Bolinder LLC)
Ackerlow later told KSL.com: “We are land agents and our job is to hand over the land with all the utilities, roads and everything else. Then the company can take over the land. and build their own.”
Most of the complaints against the bond sale were existential, opposing development near the Great Salt Lake and in Tuele County, where air pollution and water use are constant concerns. They feel the decision was rushed.
Two commenters said this type of development will cause them to leave and welcome residents, even though they have been residents for decades.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was asked about the area at a September press conference and said, “I don’t think these projects are too close to the Great Salt Lake.” “We’ve been working very closely together to make sure that this type of development actually protects the Great Salt Lake and that we can put some kind of barrier in place there.”
Ackerlow and Hamner insist they have done everything necessary for responsible development. “The council we have now is a data-driven council,” Hamner said. “We don’t make decisions on a whim.”
Mr. Ackerlow has worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality through important permitting and approval processes while conducting transportation, geotechnical and wetland mitigation studies.
Five wetland areas of approximately 19 acres were identified. He has received approval to build a two-lane road across part of the wetland using a culvert system, and says industrial development will not impact environmentally sensitive areas.
He said the water treatment facility they plan to develop far exceeds state requirements and the development is not as speculative as residents believe.
The evaluation report suggests that “initial demand for industrial development in the Tuele Valley PID is high and is projected to be 450,000 square feet per year for the first three years.”
“We already have about 110 acres under contract,” Ackerlow said. “And those are good clean businesses.” This includes recyclers and small home builders, which will employ an estimated 600 people.
“Businesses are moving here, so shouldn’t we make room for them?” he said.
