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Eagle Mountain passes Ridgeline Protection March 19, 2018, 8:12 amThe Overlay Zone was then sent to the City Council, which held a public hearing in November of 2017. The proposal was discussed and direction was given to the City Staff for some changes to be made. The City Staff worked on the proposal and then brought it back to the City Council for vote on January 16, 2018. The City Council then voted to approve the Ridgeline Overlay zone with a 5-0 vote. It should be noted that the process started out with a Ridgeline Protection Overlay Zone, but what was approved by the Council was a set of codes that contain standards, rather than an overlay zone. In a recent blog post on "Mayor's Voice", Tom Westmoreland the current Eagle Mountain Mayor, made the following statement about the Ridgeline Protection Code. "The City Council recently approved a Ridgeline Protection Ordinance. This needed to be done to protect our scenic hilltops from development." He gives a little more detail in a post he made on the Mayor Tom Westmoreland Facebook page. "I am very pleased to announce that after months of work by staff and council working with land owners, last night city council approved a ridge line protection ordinance. This will prohibit development on hilltops, preserving open space and views. There is more work to be done but this is a significant milestone as we work to make Eagle Mountain an extraordinary place to live, work, and play, now and in the future." The council had some discussion on the topic of Dedication vs Easement for the protection code. Dedication is when the developer would donate the real property to the City of Eagle Mountain for a public purpose. Easement is a right of crossing, in this case it would be a for public access or pedestrian access. Steve Mumford, the Eagle Mountain Community Development Director, gives some more details on this subject. "As far as land dedication vs easements, the developer can decide which one to propose, and the City Council can ultimately make the decision. We included both options in the code simply because they both accomplish the same goal - to preserve the ridgetops from development and make them available for trail systems so that all residents can benefit. Property owners can then choose whether they want to allow others to cross through their property on a trail, or whether they want to dedicate that property to the City. Both have their benefits and drawbacks." One of the differences is property tax. With the easement the property owner would be liable for property taxes on the areas with the easement, but with dedication the resident gives the land to the city so they are no longer liable for property taxes on that portion of the land. The community news source for Eagle Mountain Utah, Saratoga Springs Utah, Lehi Utah, American Fork Utah, Highland Utah, Alpine Utah, and The Cedar Valley, including Cedar Fort Utah and Fairfield Utah. Copyright 2024 The Crossroads Journal LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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