Wasatch County planners are set to release a preliminary future land use map in the coming weeks as part of their General Plan overhaul — a document that will dictate where development should or should not take place within the county over the next few decades.
The last General Plan was updated in 2001. The latest General Plan overhaul began in early 2025. County planner Austin Corry said growth pressures 25 years ago were not as extreme as they are today. Now, the Wasatch County Council is focused on preserving the rural character of the county amid rapid growth.
“I think the last couple of council meetings have shown that the current sitting council is willing to do some hard things,” Corry said. “The current council is willing to look at more creative ways to get the right product type rather than making statements that we want a certain thing, but not necessarily the regulations to get there.”
That has been the main sticking point for county councilors like Colleen Bonner — preserving the “character” of Wasatch County.
“That’s where you have the opportunity to kind of define how your community grows into the future, because we know we’re not going to stop growth,” Bonner said.
Bonner said surveys conducted by the county showed that residents want to keep the rural feel. But preserving a rural feel may be a tall order.
The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute estimated in November that Wasatch County is expected to be home to 84,126 residents by 2065. Along with new residents comes a need for more affordable housing, Bonner said.
“It’s just a part of our General Plan, and how do we keep this rural aspect, how do we meet the needs of our community?” Bonner said. “Because we have people, we have essential workers who are driving an hour to work. They can’t afford to live here.”
The General Plan also identifies unincorporated locations where the county can consider “creative approaches” to attainable housing. Approximately 60% of the homes in Wasatch County have been constructed within the last 25 years, according to the land use map draft presented by Corry. The majority of those homes are in Heber City, Midway and unincorporated Wasatch County.
Corry said it’s key to acknowledge how resort areas and growth pressures create different dynamics in areas like Wasatch and Summit counties as opposed to other counties in the state.
“It just shows how valuable land use control is,” Corry said. “It’s about understanding and being deeply invested and ingrained in the communities that you’re trying to help.”
Land use guidelines act as a foundational map for the county’s future. That map identifies where certain types of development may occur. It’s also an attempt by the county to solidify the character and intent of certain areas.
The future land use map, Corry said, is the “heart” of the General Plan.
“The intent of the General Plan is to help guide growth, and it’s not just about where should something go, but it’s what does the community want to be,” Corry said.
Corry presented a preliminary draft land use map to the County Council at recent meetings. It outlines seven distinct areas where land use decisions must be made. Plans for the Heber Valley Planning Area will be inherently different from those in the Jordanelle Basin Planning Area or the Strawberry Planning Area.
The draft outlines how to carefully manage the transition between incorporated cities and the county’s rural lands. Rural residential designations identify where the existing services can support a mix of housing types at “modest densities.”
“If this transition is not managed carefully, sprawl will accelerate, undermining the rural character and environmental quality the community seeks to protect,” the land use draft states.
Transportation networks, public facilities and recreational facilities are all also discussed in the General Plan, but Corry said those aspects are intended to augment and support the land use intent.
The public will have the opportunity to read and comment on the future land use map draft once it is released in the next few weeks, according to Corry. The General Plan is on target to be finished this summer, provided there is enough time to scrutinize public feedback once the draft General Plan is released.