San Juan County planning staff say general plan update will add water-use, affordable-housing and annexation guidance

San Juan County planning staff told the Planning Commission on Nov. 11 that they will update the county’s 2018 general plan to include a state-required water utilization plan, additional affordable-housing language and clearer treatment of future annexation areas and existing Spanish Valley planning materials. The county intends to coordinate the update with special-service districts and municipal partners. "The state set up a process to help counties and cities as they go through and place the required legislative ... items within the general plan," the presenter said. "We do have to go through and recognize that we have to have a water utilization plan."

Why it matters: county staff said the changes aim to record how the county will forecast future growth and ensure water availability for new development. The presenter said the state requires the water planning language because unplanned growth can exceed aquifer capacity and prompt state intervention. He cited a past case of aquifer depletion outside Cedar City as an example of the risks that water planning is meant to avoid.

Key details: staff said the county previously completed a Spanish Valley water-users study and allocated 5,000 acre-feet of water from the San Juan River for future Spanish Valley uses. That plan, the presenter said, included participating entities such as the Spanish Valley Special Service District, municipal water providers in Monticello and Moab, and groundwater users. The presenter said other parts of the county — for example, Eastland, where a new potash plant anticipates 70–100 employees — do not yet have comparable water-availability studies.

Staff identified other specific updates planned for the general plan: (1) clarify that several interlocal agreements with the towns of Monticello and Blanding create future annexation areas and that those agreements remain in effect until 2028; (2) add language required by state code about water planning and more emphasis on affordable housing; and (3) preserve and reference the Spanish Valley community structure plan where it remains in effect. The presenter said the general plan does not need to be perfectly consistent with the land-use ordinance (Utah is not a "general-plan-consistency" state), but consistency strengthens the administrative record in appeals.

Process and timeline: staff told commissioners they expect to bring proposed, limited changes — such as removing an older public-survey appendix and inserting current Spanish Valley text and required water-language — to a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners. The presenter said the next commission meeting has a light agenda and staff hopes to schedule a joint discussion at 11:00 a.m., with a virtual link available. The presenter also noted an evening watershed-planning public meeting on Nov. 16 at 6:00 p.m. hosted by the San Juan Conservation District; staff encouraged commissioners and the public to attend.

Commission comments: Commissioners asked that the update be kept simple where possible and that citizen survey results reflect unincorporated-area residents, not only municipal respondents. Commissioners also discussed whether portions of the current land-use ordinance (including the Spanish Valley zoning provisions) should be retained, replaced or consolidated into a simplified table; staff recommended preserving the Spanish Valley community-structure plan text where it has been used to make prior decisions.

Next steps: staff said they will provide a short list of recommended paragraph-level edits, involve the county’s citizen advisory group for review, and work with state resources and the Utah League of Cities and Towns when needed. The presenter invited commissioners to a joint meeting next week or to attend remotely.