Developer asks commission to forward minor edits to Hunter battery storage CUP; board moves item to county commission

The Emery County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to send proposed language edits for the Hunter battery storage conditional use permit (CUP) response letter to the county commission for final review and approval.

Joel Puritz, project developer for DESRI, told the commission the edits are purely to align the CUP response letter’s wording with other DESRI projects in the county and do not change permit substance. "We just are in the dot our i's, cross our t's mode, so to speak, before we get things formally ramped up," Puritz said.

The edits noted dates (application submission and last year’s hearing) and minor wording cleanups intended to make the response letter consistent with other projects. Puritz said the project received its CUP about a year earlier and that the firm is in early design and engineering phases.

Commission members discussed confirming Jim Jennings, the county zoning administrator, had reviewed the edits; staff (Natalie Olsen) said she had attempted to confirm with Jennings but had not yet received a response. Chair Gary Arrington asked if the board preferred to table the item or forward it; a motion to send the edits to the county commission passed unanimously.

The commission recorded no substantive changes to the CUP and did not attach additional conditions during the meeting. Puritz said DESRI will coordinate with county staff before the county commission meeting and that the applicant will be on the county agenda for commission action.

The commission’s formal action was to forward the response‑letter edits to the county commission for final approval; the item will appear on the commission agenda and return only if the county commission requests further changes.