County attorney urges phased mapping of ‘class D’ roads after state code change; concerns about gated rights‑of‑way

Nathan Harris, an attorney in the county attorney’s office, briefed the Tooele County Commission on June 3 about recent statutory changes affecting “class D” roads and outlined a recommended, phased county response.

Under the revised statute discussed at the meeting, each county “shall prepare maps showing to the best of its ability the class D roads within its boundaries which were in existence as of October 21, 1976,” and provide copies to the Utah Department of Transportation, Harris said. He told commissioners that Tooele had been one of three counties that never submitted an earlier map and that the law change (effective May 7 of the current year) made the county’s task more straightforward but raised sensitive property issues.

Why it matters: class D roads are typically unpaved, prescriptive rights‑of‑way that the county does not maintain. Mapping them clarifies access rights that affect building permits, utility hookups and public use; the county’s code requires access off a dedicated or approved public road for building permits, staff said.

Harris and staff identified several practical and legal complications: proving prescriptive use for a given road can be fact‑specific and litigated; some roads cross State Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) parcels, which constrain vacation options; people have placed gates on some roads and the new law restricts locking those gates. Harris said a person who locks a gate over a class D road “is potentially liable as a class B misdemeanor.”

Commissioners and staff agreed on a conservative, staged approach. Harris recommended preparing a draft map and then resolving likely problem areas with property owners before adopting a final resolution. Several commissioners urged beginning with a short list of roads tied to active building‑permit issues; Rochelle (county manager’s office) and staff identified three pending permit cases where clarifying class D status would affect well and electric permits.

Direction given: Commissioners asked staff to assemble a small team (county manager’s office, community development, public works, county attorney) to produce a working draft map, prioritize roads linked to immediate permitting problems, and return to the commission with a recommended adoption schedule. Harris said the county can amend the map later but cautioned that formal amendments that remove roads are effectively a vacation process requiring additional steps.

No vote was taken; the commission instructed staff to proceed with a phased mapping process and targeted outreach to landowners, and staff confirmed they have already included class D roads in the county’s master trails mapping effort.

Ending: County attorneys and staff will prepare the draft mapping work and bring recommended next steps back to the commission for review; property owners directly affected by an adopted map will be notified during the process.