County refers land-use text amendment tied to state engineer water-rights concerns to Planning Commission

County staff told commissioners the proposed text amendment to Utah County's land-use ordinance (chapter 6.04) grew from a prior work session where a representative of the state engineer's office described potential impacts of a general adjudication of water rights that could affect properties in areas such as Hobble Creek Canyon. Staff said they worked with the health department and the civil attorney’s office to draft options and recommended referral to the Planning Commission so the public process and hearings could begin.

"If you recall a couple months ago, we had a work session item in which a representative from the state engineer's office came down and kind of gave us some information that potentially could be quite concerning about a general adjudication of water rights," Speaker 2 said. "All we're doing today is just referring that proposed text amendment back to the Planning Commission to start the process."

Commissioners agreed to refer the draft to the Planning Commission; staff said the ordinance language will likely change in response to public hearing input and a planning commission recommendation before returning to the County Commission for final action.