Box Elder County approves one agricultural protection area, denies two pending zoning

Box Elder County Commissioners on Wednesday approved one agricultural protection area (APA) and deferred or denied two others after staff told the commission several parcels were unzoned and therefore did not meet the criteria in state code.

Commissioners approved Resolution 25-15, establishing an APA for the Larson property in the Brigham City area. They approved Resolution 25-14 only for the single Anderson parcel that already carried agricultural zoning and denied the five Anderson parcels that were unzoned. The commission denied the RE Farms (REFarms) APA application because the submitted parcels are in unzoned land; commissioners directed applicants who obtain appropriate zoning within six months may reapply without paying a second APA application fee.

The APAs were the subject of a public hearing that drew farmers and neighbors who said the protections are needed to shield longstanding agricultural operations from nuisance complaints and development pressures. Brandon East of RE Properties, a fourth-generation farmer who spoke at the hearing, said the protections help farms “continue to be part of this county’s identity and future.” Julianna Larson, a Brigham City resident and lifelong farmer, told the commission she and her late husband had farmed the same land for more than 55 years and sought protection against neighbors’ complaints. A representative of the Box Elder Committee of Liberty, Deanna Hardy, opposed the program, calling it “another bureaucratic program” and saying it was “extorting money from the farmer.”

Scott Lyons, community development director, explained the planning commission’s recommendation and the…