A probe into how Summit County has administered a controversial development program is underway on Capitol Hill.
The flap is over rules that have allowed builders to transfer valuable development rights from one parcel to another. Some state lawmakers say they began questioning county officials about the program last year when they were tipped off about the controversy by a landowner. The rules that governed how development rights were transferred were abused, the property owner claimed.
State Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, has asked the Office of the Legislative Auditor General to examine records from the county’s TDR program.
“It’s a little bit of a stir but I don’t see it as one of the major things going on on the Hill,” Legislative Auditor General John Schaff said in a telephone interview. “[Niederhauser] said they are concerned about the TDR legislation and they need to have us look at it. Some other lawmakers have stronger feelings and think that there may or may not be abuses there.”
Lawmakers have asked his office to audit programs that allowed development rights to be transferred in counties and cities throughout Utah, Schaff said.
“Has it allowed counties and municipalities to build revenue through the TDR process?” Schaff asked. “Is there a flaw in the TDR process?”
According to Schaff, “this audit has no hidden agenda to prove questionable activities on the part of anyone.”
“The audit team was concerned that Summit County people felt like we had a hidden agenda,” he added.
According to Summit County, state officials are auditing records from 1998 through 2004.
Summit County Councilman Chris Robinson said he expects a report from the audit to be issued before the legislative session begins in January.
“We have no reason to believe that there is something in there that has not been done properly,” Robinson said.
County officials say that builders in the past have received “density bonuses” for transferring their development rights in efforts to cluster buildings and preserve open space.
But it is too early to determine whether state laws regulating those transfers were violated, Schaff said.
“We are not far enough to know what’s going on,” Schaff said. “There are individual legislators that have said they think some abuse has occurred.”
State Senate President Michael Waddoups, a Taylorsville Republican, said several people have indicated to him that the TDR program in Summit County has been abused.
Allegations of “cronyism” have surfaced regarding the actions of some county officials overseeing the program, Waddoups explained in a telephone interview Friday.
“They were concerned that [TDRs] were being used to block development in some places,” Waddoups said.
Critics have also accused Summit County officials of abusing their power by using the TDR program as a way to grant “political favors” to their supporters, he added.
“Those are the allegations being made,” Waddoups said. “My obligation is to do what’s right and to respect the people. I have to be able to say that we’re doing the right thing for the public.”