Council approves Zion Shores conditional use permit, requires evaporation-pond location before pool permit

WASHINGTON — The Washington City Council approved Conditional Use Permit CD-25-07 for the Zion Shores commercial surf park and its filtration facility on Sept. 10, 2025, but required the developer to identify the location of a one‑acre evaporation (drying) pond to the council before the council will approve the pool (lagoon) building permit.

The requirement was added as “Condition 19” to a staff recommendation the council otherwise accepted. Council members said they were satisfied with the project design and technical presentations but remained concerned about where concentrated brine and dewatering pellets from the facility’s water‑treatment system would ultimately be staged or disposed.

At a lengthy staff and applicant presentation, Ian Fife, an engineer with Westech Engineering, described the proposed treatment train for brackish on‑site wells: ultrafiltration (UF) pretreatment, brackish‑water reverse osmosis (BWRO), a second high‑pressure RO “desalter” stage, and a fluidized‑bed reactor to precipitate salts. Fife said the system is designed to maximize recovery so “about 10% of this will end up being . . . waste stream,” and that worst‑case projections for the dewatered salt pellets are roughly one dump‑truck load every one to three days. He also explained that backwash and brine streams would be routed to a collection pit and then to an evaporation pond or drying area.

Cody Larkin, representing Zion Shores, said the project team is negotiating locations for the evaporation pond and some potential off‑site options and asked the council not to delay the building permit for the filtration building. “We’re spending over a $100,000,000 on this,” Larkin said, adding the developer will be a long‑term partner with the city.

Council members pressed staff and the applicant on several operational details: where the wells and equipment would sit on the site, whether the filtration equipment would be contained inside the 800‑foot building, how consumables (sand, chemicals) and dewatered pellets would be delivered and removed, and whether the evaporation pond would cause odors. Ian Fife told the council that the brine and precipitated salts themselves are odorless and that the dewatered pellets are projected to be about 90% solids and suitable for landfill disposal as packaged “super sacks” lifted by forklift.

City staff and the city attorney reiterated that zoning and conditional use review establishes land‑use permission, while technical specifications for water treatment, waste handling, and pond design will be administered through the building‑permit and technical review process. Staff also noted that state agencies retain primary authority for some water‑quality matters. The city’s legal adviser reminded the council that under Utah Supreme Court guidance, the city’s conditional‑use review must be tied to codified standards; therefore, many of the technical details will be reviewed at the building‑permit stage.

Council members who spoke said they wanted firm notice of the evaporation‑pond location before the city approves the pool/lagoon building permit. In the motion to approve the CUP, the council specifically required the applicant to present the pond location to the council prior to issuance of the pool building permit; staff said they would administer technical review of pond design and related building permits in coordination with applicable state approvals.

The council voted to approve the conditional use permit with the additional condition. The motion passed with a majority: yes votes outweighed a single recorded no vote.

The decision allows Zion Shores to move forward with staged building permits for the filtration building and lagoon, subject to the additional council review step for the evaporation pond and the usual building‑permit technical reviews and state approvals.