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Cache County buys nearly 1,000 acres including Sherwood Hills and Chambers Farm; HB 237 boosts future open-space funding
Summary
County staff described purchases including 470 county-owned acres at Sherwood Hills (plus 300 privately acquired by a donor) and a 557-acre Chambers Farm acquisition for about $1.9 million; the meeting also covered HB 237, which redirects greenbelt rollback taxes into a county open-space fund that could add roughly $900,000/year on average.
Staff updated the advisory committee on recent Cache County land acquisitions and the county’s evolving funding picture for open space. The county purchased 470 acres in the Sherwood Hills/Wellsville area while a private buyer (Mark Thompson) purchased an adjacent roughly 300-acre parcel; combined, nearly 800 acres will be preserved in that corridor.
Staff said the county spent about $7.5 million on the Sherwood purchase but leveraged partner contributions: Wellsville City provided $1,000,000, the state Outdoor Recreation grant contributed $2,000,000, and Mark Thompson donated $500,000 toward the county acres. That combination reduced the county’s net bond outlay for the purchase, staff said, and staff are negotiating reimbursement mechanics and agreements for the partners’ financial contributions.
Separately, the county purchased the Chambers Farm: 557 acres east of Smithfield for less than $1,900,000 (about $3,400 per acre). Staff said the primary reason for that purchase was to secure a preferred corridor for the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and to connect canyon-to-canyon trail segments; adjacent properties and Forest Service lands improve connectivity and habitat protection.
Staff described tradeoffs between fee-title purchases and conservation easements. Fee-title ownership gives the county direct control for trail building and land-use decisions but raises responsibilities for maintenance and management. Easements can be less costly per immediate county outlay but may limit public access and create long-term negotiation/monitoring needs. Staff and committee members emphasized using easements held by independent land trusts where appropriate to preserve voter intent and prevent later political alteration.
Staff also summarized HB 237 (passed in this legislative session), which redirects greenbelt rollback tax receipts to the county open-space fund instead of distributing them among all taxing entities. Using a five-year historical lookback, staff estimated an average of about $900,000 per year now could flow to the county open-space fund; over 20 years that could approximate $20 million. Members characterized that as a welcome but challenging development because it increases both acquisition capacity and the need to identify additional high-value parcels.
No formal votes were recorded. Next steps described by staff include completing partner agreements, pursuing study grants to plan trail and recreation uses, negotiating easements for long-term protection (potentially with third-party land trusts), and returning to the committee with maps and status updates.
