Provo resident tells commissioners development costs and rollback‑tax refund are blocking his subdivision plans

Robert John Stevens of Provo used the public‑comment period to describe long-running struggles to develop a 103‑acre property into residential lots, and he urged the county to reconsider regulatory burdens that make rural subdivision expensive and slow.

Stevens said he has spent more than $2 million developing the property and described infrastructure and regulatory costs that he said raised per‑lot expenses by about $56,000. He criticized local requirements for water rights, wells, wastewater systems and road construction, and urged county officials to consider alternative approaches such as standards developed collaboratively rather than prescriptive regulation.

Stevens also said he had been charged $69,000 in rollback taxes while building a road, appealed to the Board of Equalization, won relief there, and that the assessor subsequently appealed the BOE decision to the state except for one lot. He said the county still owes him $10,642.51 for one lot and that his inquiries have produced what he described as a “runaround.”

Stevens urged the commission to consider large wastewater-treatment solutions and to reduce the regulatory and cost barriers that he said limit housing development on county land outside cities. He closed by stressing that building rural housing is increasingly expensive and that county processes could be adjusted to reduce barriers.

No commission response resolving his specific refund claim was recorded on the public transcript during the meeting.