On June 1, Herriman will join Alta as the only towns in Salt Lake County.
The County Commission Monday unanimously voted to approve the petition of Herriman residents to become a town."It's a good day for the little man," said Herriman resident and developer Sheldon Hansen.
Commissioners said they based their decision on their perception that the incorporation was obviously desired by residents and that it would not harm the rest of the county.
A feasibility study had shown that incorporating Herriman would not drain existing tax base from the unincorporated county -- in fact, given current tax and fee structures, the new town would run a deficit of $460,000 its first year.
The study suggested increasing building permit fees and impact fees, reducing animal control services and getting federal block grants to make up the difference.
The new town will likely contract for municipal services from the county, but that, in addition to the money problem, is still to be worked out.
"There are a lot of questions we need to answer between now and (June 1)," said longtime resident Lynn Crane.
One of those questions is who will be the town's new mayor and town council members. (There will probably be five council members.) Crane, whose great-grandfather Butterfield was one of the area's first residents and who discovered the creek and canyon named for him, is a leading contender for mayor, though he said he hasn't decided whether to apply for the job.
By law, the County Commission chooses the initial officers who serve until the next scheduled election. In this case, it's this November.
The commission will accept applications for the mayor and council jobs until April 26 and make its choices by May 10.
The boundaries of the new town will run from the Utah County line to 11800 South (South Jordan's city limit) and from 6400 West to approximately 4800 West (Riverton's city limit).
Incorporation proponents plan to immediately annex the area west of the new town to 7200 West.
That area was originally intended to be part of the incorporation, but it put the population over 800 residents. That would have made the proposed incorporation a third-class city, and incorporation would have been more complicated, requiring two petitions and a vote.
For an area under 800 residents, the County Commission can, if petitioned, simply decide to make it a town.
The date of petition is the effective date for counting the population, and that was 770 residents as of last fall. Since then, however, a number of people have moved into the fast-growing area, and Hansen estimates it now has 810 residents.
As a practical matter, when the town is officially created June 1, it will also automatically become a third-class city. No action is required for that to happen.
For an infinitesimal moment, then, Herriman will join Alta as a town, then again leave Alta alone in that category.
The obvious skirting of city incorporation requirements didn't bother the County Commission. In fact, Commissioner Brent Overson said one of the things he will look for while examining applications for city officers will be their willingness to immediately annex the area west.
Riverton and South Jordan have both looked at the area for possible annexation, but the commission was persuaded that those annexation plans were vague enough, and the residents' desire for self-determination strong enough, to incorporate.
Developer James Sorenson is planning a large housing and commercial development in the area, and local residents wanted to have a say in how that is regulated. Hansen is also planning a large development on 460 acres in the area.