By Michelle Peot

Solara layout from the developer’s website

Solara is the second major residential development proposed for a 200-acre parcel on the north side of I-15, just southwest of Anderson Junction. The first, Zions Landing, never made it beyond the initial concept phase.

The Conservancy District’s Preliminary Services Agreement

In August 2025 the Washington County Conservancy District (WCWCD) Board approved a preliminary agreement with Solara to provide water for up to 74 homes (14 single family, 60 townhomes) with the understanding that Solara would need to annex into a municipality for any additional homes to be served. 74 homes is also the maximum for not requiring a secondary access road, which Solara had not secured. At the meeting, Ben Billingsley, Toquerville’s City Manager, indicated that annexation was being explored. This would require incorporating the site into the city's annexation plan.

Preannexation Agreement

In April 2026, the Toquerville Town Council reported that they had submitted an application for a Bureau of Land Management right-of-way for secondary access to the development. The following month the Council approved a preannexation agreement.

Solara’s Request for Full Capacity Water Service Without Annexation

On July 6th, 2026, Aaron Tilton appeared before the WCWCD Board to ask for an amendment to Solara’s service agreement with the water district. Tilton stated that the Toquerville annexation process was unnecessarily drawn out, and there was no guarantee that the city would approve the annexation. Therefore, he wanted WCWCD to approve service for the up to 1500 homes as a contingency. Tilton continued to contest that Solara should cover any impact fees on the greater Toquerville community, for example additional park capacity and roads.

Toquerville’s Mayor, Dan Catlin, emphasized the contention over town impact fees and number of nightly vacation rentals (200 versus 100). He admitted that some Toquerville citizens don't want the annexation to move forward, as it would more than double the city’s size. Mayor Catlin stated that Toquerville cannot commit to an exact time table, partly due to external dependencies.

Ben Billingsley, Toquerville’s City Manager added that Solara wants to build 7.5 units per acre, which is on the extreme end for high density for the county. He emphasized that annexation is a formal process, requiring public hearings. Mayor Catlin noted that if there was a state legislative change that reduced the ability to offset Solara’s impact on the community with impact fees, the city would not be in favor of annexation.

WCWCD Trustee, Ed Bowler, emphasized that WCWCD prefers not to retail water, and the favored approach is annexation. Multiple Trustees, including Kress Staheli and Michele Randall, expressed opposition to amending the existing agreement as a contingency.

Location of Solara development on parcel 3151-A-1-HV from Utah State Parcels.

Trustee Bowler repeatedly asked what Toquerville wanted. Mayor Catlin said that the city prefers to move forward with the annexation process. Trustee Clark Fawcett added that he's not in favor of retailing water to that large of a development.

Zach Renstrom, WCWCD General Manager, said that the district's policy is to do an analysis of water delivery engineering feasibility. 74 homes are reasonable to handle with the existing pressure zone. To bump up to 1500 would require further engineering analysis. WCWCD's practice is for larger unincorporated developments to first pursue annexation. Tilton stated that he had submitted the engineering docs for up to 1500, but Renstrom stated that they had never reached his office.

The Board floated that a more reasonable approach would be an incremental allotment increase should they agree to amend the services agreement. Tilton stated that he is open to the option of a stepwise increase of 200 homes per year. Trustee Staheli expressed concerns over unreasonable annexation decision delays, and recommended that the full capacity engineering analysis be reviewed in parallel as Toquerville completes their deliberation.

Toquerville Council member Todd Sands stated that Solara came before Council only once, and originally pushed back on impact fees. It took 1-2 months for Solara to agree to Toquerville's impact fees and cap on nightly vacation rentals, hence it was unreasonable to blame Toquerville for delays.

Trustee Staheli motioned to deny an amendment to the services agreement, pending submission and review of engineering docs for a larger development and Toquerville annexation deliberation. Trustee Randall seconded. The Board passed the motion.

What’s Next?

Citizens should expect a second public hearing around Solara annexation, currently estimated to be held in the next 2-3 months.

Solara Denied Fast-tracking of Water Service