Toquerville planning commission recommends denying designation of Litchfield parcel as highway commercial

The Toquerville Planning Commission on Oct. 22 recommended that the City Council deny a proposal to designate the Litchfield property as a Highway Commercial zone district, citing the commission’s finding that the parcel does not meet the nine statutory factors in the city’s zoning code.

Planning staff opened the discussion by summarizing the legal background: the parcel was rezoned in 2023, a lower court entered summary judgment for the city, and the matter is now on appeal to the Utah Court of Appeals. Kayla, a city planning staff member, said the 2024 general plan now designates the area commercial and noted that the 30-day period to challenge that plan has passed.

The commission’s decision followed more than an hour of public comment in which residents and interest groups opposed the designation. Ray Vance, a property owner and plaintiff in litigation over the earlier rezoning, described a long history of dispute and said, “This will continue. If this does not end, we are resolved to continue…