Tooele County Council adopts staff‑recommended rezoning east of Rush Valley (version B)

The Tooele County Council on Wednesday adopted Ordinance 2026‑04, approving a staff‑recommended rezone (version B) for property east of Rush Valley.

Milly, a planning staff member, summarized the revised request and the staff recommendation. The applicant (Chris Thompson) and several property owners sought to change zoning from MU‑40 to an agricultural 10‑acre (A‑10) standard on a subset of parcels. Staff said version A (applicant request) would have created a larger number of potential lots; the staff‑recommended version B adjusted parcels to reflect FEMA and state special flood hazard guidance and included or excluded specific parcels (for example, parcel 06‑056‑0‑0024 was excluded by the applicant). Milly said the staff recommendation would result in fewer, larger lots than the applicant's initial proposal and that any future building permits would require site‑specific approvals and agency review because of floodplain conditions.

Council members thanked staff for detailed reporting and discussed long‑term land‑use concerns. Councilman Thomas moved to adopt the staff‑recommended version B and Councilman Wartell seconded; the ordinance was adopted by voice vote.

What the ordinance does: the rezone changes zoning designations on the listed parcels (staff report contains parcel IDs and estimates) to allow an agricultural 10‑acre minimum in areas deemed appropriate by staff and consistent with floodplain guidance. The staff report estimated potential outcomes under various versions (for example, applicant version A originally estimated approximately 47 ten‑acre parcels if a 7.15‑acre parcel had been included; staff version B results in a smaller number of lots). The council emphasized that property owners must still complete subdivision and permitting steps before development can proceed.