The Cedar City Council on July 30 agreed to ask the Utah Inland Port Authority to begin drafting an amended project-area plan and budget that would add Cedar City property to the Iron Springs Inland Port project area, and later voted to consent to the map brought forward by port staff.
The resolution approved at the meeting does not itself change tax or development rules; it asks the port authority to prepare a draft plan and budget and return the plan to the council for final consent. Councilmembers debated whether including certain commercial corridors could give later developers an unfair competitive advantage over businesses that already paid for infrastructure.
The council’s action on the first resolution authorized city staff to work with the port authority to prepare a draft amended project-area plan and budget. Economic development staff and the port authority said they need defined property boundaries to build a plan and budget to present to the city and the port board.
During a separate agenda item, the council considered a proposed map showing several industrial and commercial parcels within Cedar City for inclusion. After discussion about whether incentives should be used for retail, for projects already under development, and how tax-increment funds would be spent, the council approved the proposed map by a recorded vote of four in favor and one opposed.
Port staff described the inland port authority’s role as a public financing partner that can support infrastructure—water, road upgrades and rail connections—and that money generated from tax increment within a given project area would be reinvested in that same area. Danny Stewart, speaking for the port, said the authority intends to use the tools "to help fund infrastructure that will help the development of these areas and surrounding areas." The authority said decisions about incentives and specific investments would be made later in development agreements and triggering resolutions and would require additional approvals.
Several council members pressed for limits on using port tools for retail because they feared creating a competitive advantage over existing businesses that paid for infrastructure. Port staff and city officials said retail incentives are not the port’s typical priority and that the authority generally directs funding toward infrastructure and larger-scale industrial or headquarters projects.
The council’s approvals start a multistep process: the port will draft a plan and budget, present it to city staff and the council, and then the port board will consider it before any tax-increment triggering or development agreements are finalized.
The vote on whether to ask the port to begin the drafting process passed. A subsequent vote to include the specific Cedar City parcels shown on the map passed 4–1. The council directed staff to continue working with the port and to return a draft plan and budget for council review before any triggering resolution or incentive is implemented.