A Utah land management administration, Wasatch County’s Christensen family and a real estate development/capital investment have all come together to ask Heber City to change their annexation plan to allow it to include around 4,200 acres between Red Ledges and Wolf Creek Ranch.In the longer term, they’d like Heber City to complete the annexation and are looking to add thousands of residential units to the community.Wasatch County councilors thought about what it could mean for the valley and wondered what kind they should tell Heber City leaders about the potential project during a Wednesday meeting.“They asked for some feedback from us,” County Manager Dustin Grabau said.The specifics of what the annexation could entail — infrastructure, roads, number of units — are yet to be fleshed out.Heber City Manager Matt Brower attended to answer questions councilors tossed his way, and Councilor Steve Farrell wondered when the process could warrant a traffic study.“It will need to have more detail than we currently have,” Grabau said. “For instance, the number of units has a very wide range.”Somewhere in that range is where transportation issues begin, he added. Any added development in the region would strain the roads, Farrell said.Brower specified that the detailed annexation discussions were yet to be had, and that the 4,200 acres will not be guaranteed annexation even if the city succeeds in amending its annexation plan map. That will only mean the city will be able to consider the annexation.“We have received no specific information regarding traffic, water, utilities,” Brower said. “A lot of time could be saved for a lot of people if the boundary change was denied,” Councilor Kendall Crittenden said.The issue is further complicated, given that 720 of the acres in the possible annexation are managed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, a state land trust body that aims to generate revenue from lands the state was granted not long after it was established and devote it to education.No one in the meeting, including Wasatch County Deputy Attorney Jon Woodard, seemed sure whether the Trust Lands Administration is bound by the county’s current land codes on its 720 acres or not.Wasatch County Planning Director Doug Smith said they seemed to need to go through Wasatch County as their primary land-use authority when they tried to rezone 10-15 years ago, but he wasn’t sure if things have since changed.“I do know that during our discussions with SITLA regarding the development of property, that was brought up,” Woodard said. “When we said, ‘Well if you’re going to do it, just do it,’ we stopped hearing from them and instead they moved towards talking to Heber City apparently.”He also informed the council that there’s case law from the Trust Lands Administration becoming involved in litigation surrounding development where local land-use authorities approved the projects.In practicality, Grabau reasoned, infrastructure development will “necessitate some level of coordination.”“What that means as far as our ability to exert land-use control is I think something that we would have to look at further,” he said.Councilors ultimately decided not to send any letters to Heber City, but instead opted to add the discussion to a joint meeting taking place Nov. 13.In September, developers told Heber City leaders of their hopes to create a community with emergency responders, open space and amenities annexation plan is amended and the annexation is passed.Greg Whitehead with Philo Ventures — the company the Trust Lands Administration and Christensen family plan to develop their combined 4,200 acres through — said they’ve determined 404 of the acres are suitable for housing.“(SITLA) said to me they are not opposed to medium density, which they would define as 8-10 units per acre,” he said. “That’s probably as good as an answer as you get from them. They don’t really come right out and say anything, but that’s kind of where they’re thinking.”That could mean 3,200-4,000 units, though Whitehead said he’s worked a plan he believes would bring less than 3,000 units to compromise between the Trust Lands Administration, the Christensens and the community’s desires.The post Wasatch County leaders wary of potential Heber City annexation that could add up to 4,000 units appeared first on Park Record.