Hurricane council waives county jail power impact fee, approves land swap and liquor license; continues power-impact study

The Hurricane City Council on Tuesday approved three items — a power-impact fee waiver for Washington County’s Purgatory Corrections expansion, a property exchange tied to a municipal well site and a full-liquor restaurant license for the former Eagles building — and postponed a decision on the city’s proposed power impact-fee ordinance pending additional technical review.

The council voted to waive one-time power impact fees for the county jail expansion after a presentation by Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby, who described the project as an addition of specialized medical and mental-health bed space and related support facilities. The council then approved a land exchange with Urban Investments LLC to move a previously allocated well site to a different parcel after a successful test well there, and approved a restaurant liquor license for Slot Canyon Eatery at the old Eagles site. Council members agreed to continue consideration of the city’s power impact-fee ordinance to allow further analysis and meetings with builders and the consultant.

Those actions came amid broader discussion of city planning items including agritourism on residential-agricultural parcels, upcoming capital projects on State Street and a civic-center master-planning conversation about housing density and financing options.

Sheriff Brooksby described the Purgatory Corrections expansion as a response to changing needs since the original jail opened in 1998. "We're doing adding basically a whole new wing. But that wing is those special bed spaces that we're dealing with — mental health individuals, individuals that are detoxing from drugs and alcohol," he said. Brooksby told council the expansion totals about 30,000 square feet, costs about $25 million and includes medical, classroom and program space designed to reduce recidivism.

Council members discussed whether it was appropriate to charge the county impact fees that would effectively be a tax on another public agency; staff and the new power director, Mike Johns, said intergovernmental waivers of this kind have precedent. Councilman Thomas moved to approve the waiver, Councilman Hershey seconded, and the council approved the motion by voice vote.

On the land-exchange item, staff explained the city had accepted a donated parcel near Skye Ranch years earlier as a potential well site; a subsequent test well under lease did not yield sufficient production. The city then contracted a test well at another site; the test proved productive and the city negotiated a swap for a replacement parcel and adjusted easements for the relocated well. Councilman Preet moved to approve the exchange and Councilman Fawcett seconded; the motion passed unanimously.

The council also approved a full-liquor restaurant license for Slot Canyon Eatery at the former Eagles building after the restaurant representative described planned remodeling and a menu of pizza, wings and family dining. Police and building officials reported background checks and safety plans were in order; the council approved the license by voice vote.

On a separate major issue, staff and the consultant ICPE presented a draft power impact-fee facilities plan and fee analysis. The council and representatives of the Southern Utah Home Builders Association raised questions about assumptions and certain allocation percentages used in the study. The council asked the new power director and ICPE to meet with builders to clarify assumptions and requested the study be updated; members voted to continue the ordinance deliberation to the council’s second meeting in May.

Other staff reports and discussion items included a planning-department briefing on agritourism and a request from a property owner to allow vacation rentals as part of agritourism operations; planning staff said code allows some agritourism in certain agricultural zones but not on residential-agricultural parcels without a rezoning or conditional use permit. Public works reported upcoming striping on the 1100 West project, a traffic-count trailer on State Route 9 to inform future design, and an update that the Dixie Springs well pump is expected to be operational by late June.

Several community items were also on the agenda: the city’s volunteer-led State Street cleanup, the departure of the GIS coordinator, and the introduction of Mike Johns as the city’s new power director. Council members debated civic-center master-plan concepts, including whether to pursue high-density workforce housing on council-owned parcels or to rezone and parcel the property to preserve more single-family lots; staff were asked to model lower-density and lease/sale scenarios and return those figures after the public survey closes.

The meeting agenda included public hearings on the land-exchange and the preliminary 2025–26 budget; no members of the public spoke during the hearings. Mayor and council closed the hearings before taking the votes above. The council wrapped the meeting after scheduling follow-up meetings and directing staff to provide updated technical analyses.