By MICHAEL JENSEN
The Lindon City Council voted unanimously not to extend a six month moratorium ordinance at a special public meeting on Monday, at the Lindon City Center. The Lindon City Council and the Lindon City Planning Commission held the special meeting because of a controversial moratorium extension on land east of the Salt Lake aqueduct.
The Lindon City Council and the Planning Commission were considering the possibility of extending because the Planning Commission requested more time to finish their review of the Residential Open Space Overlay ordinance. In a city council meeting last Tuesday, Canberra Development representatives told the council an extension to the moratorium would bring on a lawsuit from Canberra.
Lindon City Attorney, Gordon Duval, made opening comments recommending to the City Council to not extend the moratorium. Duval said the state issues six month moratoriums but does not talk about any extensions. If Lindon were to pass the ordinance extension, the city could come under litigation from Canberra Development. Such litigation would be the first of its kind and Duval told the City Council Lindon must weigh its options.
After hearing Duval’s recommendation the City Council voted unanimously to not pursue the moratorium extension.
Both sides seemed to be pleased with the decision. Developer David Allen said he was pleased with the decision of the City Council but disappointed to have to go through such obstacles. The moratorium has hindered the development of Allen’s Canberra Estates.
In the meeting, Allen said a year ago they worked well with the City Council and informed them of his development plans.
However, after a survey conducted by The Utah Geological Society that stated that the land in question may be prone to landslides, a moratorium was put in place to discuss and resolve the issue. Allen said since the moratorium has been in place communication and cooperation between the city and developers has stopped.
City Councilmember Jerald Hatch disagreed, saying Allen would often change their development plans regularly. Hatch said if Allen would have been upfront from the beginning maybe things would be different.
Mayor Larry Ellertson said he was pleased with the decision.
“There are other things we can do to discuss the matter,” Ellertson said.
