Court of Appeals hears challenge over Grantsville annexation during ERDA incorporation effort

The Utah Court of Appeals heard oral argument in ERDA Community Association v. Grantsville City over whether Grantsville’s 2020 annexation of roughly 500 acres interfered with an ongoing citizen initiative to incorporate a new municipality.

Janet Conway, counsel for ERDA and the initiative sponsors, said appellants sought declaratory relief after Grantsville rezoned and annexed land that ERDA supporters had included in their incorporation plan. "ERDA is a rural agricultural based area in Tooele County," Conway told the panel, and the annexation occurred while sponsors were finishing signature gathering for a ballot measure, she said. Conway argued the annexation "harmed that protected interest" and contended the Utah Constitution’s initiative provisions (Article 1 §2 and Article 6 §1) and due‑process…