Planning commission Public Hearing Oct 22
by kathy bence
“Morning Hike above the Virgin River” by Lori Cole
There will be a public hearing this Wednesday, October 22 at 6 pm. Here’s the description:
Public input is sought on Ordinance 2025.XX – An ordinance adopting/designating anew the highway commercial zone district for the subject Lichfield property as reflected in the 2024 General Plan
Related to this and to provide full disclosure, my husband, Ray, and I brought the lawsuit over what we believe was illegal action on the part of the city. You can read the details in this post written by our attorney. This post is my summary.
What’s this about?
This ordinance says it is adopting “anew the highway commercial zone district…as reflected in the 2024 general plan.” Changes were made to the General Plan in February of 2024. Some of the changes made it easier to justify the zone change they made in 2023.
Despite that, the biggest legal problem (addressed below), is that the zone change was illegally used as a payment for land, which is unrelated to any changes to the General Plan anyway.
What’s the Background?
On February 1, 2023, the city council voted 3 to 2 to give Highway Commercial zoning to long-time resident Robert Lichfield. His previous zoning was residential.
This action went against the general plan by putting Highway Commercial near residential. It went against the 9 points of standards and conditions necessary for a zone change and created peninsula zoning, all of which go against the city code. It overturned the unanimous vote of the planning commission who had denied the zone change.
Why did the City Council do this?
During the council discussion, it was stated that this long-time resident had donated land for the bypass, and some members of the council felt they owed him this zoning.
Approximately two months before applying for that zone change, Robert Lichfield emailed Ty Bringhurst, then a member of the Toquerville City Council, and reminded Bringhurst of the history. He wrote that “the City made a number of general agreements and promises to us that we could use our property to maximum benefit.” (See the Toquerville Sentinel Post under the subtitle “Alleged Confidential Deals with a Past City Council.”
Why is this illegal?
When land is taken, there needs to be a way to measure the cost of the payment made by the city for the land. If money is paid or equal-valued land is exchanged, that price can be determined. But by giving zoning, perhaps the value of the land jumps from thousands to millions or billions. No one knows how much the landowner is enriched by illegally exchanging zoning for land. While the landowner is enriched, neighboring areas may be harmed. For this reason, most, if not all states prohibit this contract zoning.
What legal recommendations did the council receive?
We do not know the position that the city attorney Heath Snow (who has since resigned) took on this matter. He was also the attorney for Firelight so there was a conflict-of-interest attorney representing Toquerville at the time, Bruce Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins publicly advised the city council not to approve the zoning. The City Council approved it anyway. Mr. Jenkins is now serving as the new city attorney. We believe that he should again recommend that the city not approve this zone change.
Why does this matter?
Long ago, a city council, or individuals that were on the city council, privately made an agreement with Robert Lichfield to trade some of his land for commercial zoning. It was not binding and not legal. The current planning commission and city council have no obligation and do not need to honor that non-binding, non-legal agreement.
In 2023, the planning commission unanimously opposed and rejected the change in zoning from residential to Highway Commercial. As we revisit this “anew” they should uphold that same decision today.