Bluff approves disconnect of 640 acres, but not an additional 8,800 acres
About two years after a decision to deny a disconnect from the town members of the Bluff Town Council on October 7 unanimously approved an ordinance to disconnect 640 acres from the town of Bluff known as the Acton property.
The ordinance did however specify that the remaining 8,874 acres requested for disconnection owned or managed by TLA, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and St. Christopher’s Mission are “more significant to the future of the town” and were not included in the ordinance.
In 2023 the Bluff Town council denied a petition requesting to disconnect 9,500 acres from the town. The areas north and west of the developed part of town represent about 40-percent of the incorporated boundaries of the town of Bluff.
The request was denied following hours of public hearings with legal representatives from private land owners, the Utah Trust Lands Administration (TLA) formerly known as the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), and members of the public all weighing in on the disconnect.
In the summer of 2022 the town of Bluff received a letter from Salt Lake City attorney Bruce Baird representing an owner of an undeveloped 640-acre parcel of land on the Bluff bench located in the northwest portion of the town boundaries.
Following a public hearing in December 2022 in January 2023 the town council voted unanimously to deny the petition to disconnect the land with 11 findings including that the disconnect would create an island of disconnected property.
Following the council decision another request from the owners of the same property, now Eric and Ida Acton of Blanding, was made to disconnect the property with an additional 8,860 acres north and west of currently developed areas of Bluff.
In October 2023 the council voted to deny the petition to disconnect the 9,500 acres with litigation coming against the city in the weeks since and continuing through the legal process.
A court-ordered pre-trial mediation between the parties is scheduled for October 15, with the possibility of a trial January 12-14 in 2026.
At a public hearing on September 25 members of the council heard from citizens regarding the proposed disconnection of the Acton property.
Town resident and future Mayor Josh Ewing expressed that Bluff is being targeted and bullied because it wants to have a say in its future and landscape.
“Never before, that I know of, has the state of Utah attacked one of its towns in this way using money that could be going to school kids in an attempt to cut our town in half. The state is conspiring with a private land owner, neither of whom ever approached the town in good faith to propose development on their properties. Neither said a word when the voters of Bluff overwhelmingly approved incorporating with these boundaries or when the Lieutenant Governor's office certified our town's creation. But now they're spending tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to sue us all with no explanation of their plans. Can you even imagine them doing this if Blanding or Monticello were trying to protect their aquifer? While we don't know their end-game, we do know that there's a lot at stake.”
Ewing noted since his time in Bluff there have been three proposals for oil drilling and fracking north of town above the aquifer as well as an expansion of gravel mining above Bluff without remediation or flood mitigation proposed.
“We're not paranoid to be worried. We're prudent to defend ourselves. While some would say we should not spend the money, it's worth the long-term investment to protect our community. We want to be reasonable, but when people don't come to the table, you can't be reasonable back.”
During public comment town resident Gary Haws also spoke, Haws is one of two residents who filed for two open positions and as a result will be on the Bluff town council in 2026.
Haws said that in his study the watershed will not impact the town aquifer.
“This public hearing is in regards to 640 acres of private land. It's surrounded yes by BLM and state land. It brings the town revenue of less than $24 a year from the costs of what I've heard of the lawsuit so far is that it will take us 3,750 years to pay back or recoup the loss of the lawsuit so far. The town of Bluff cannot even provide services to that area in question.”
Haws said the town is not being threatened or bullied and needs to work with the other parties.
“I feel strongly it's time to stop spending money frivolously like this lawsuit that does not help our town move forward. Take the money and focus on moving forward like on roads, secondary water, affordable housing. When you hit the ground, you don't start digging. You get up, dust yourself off, and move forward. I was told once there's a time you fall on your sword during a fight. I believe this is not the time.”
Another Bluff resident and member of the planning and zoning commission Marcia Hadenfeldt noted that most people in Bluff want to see new people come to town with places to work and live, as well as a safe drinking source and doesn’t mind neighbors with undeveloped land coming to the city with an idea for the land.
“What I do mind is a neighbor who won't come to the town management with an idea of what to do and propose a way to make it happen. Why didn't the land owners who started this come forward and say we would like to use our property for something other than what is shown in the zoning code and we hope we can work with you as a zoning person.”
Hadenfeldt says in her time on the commission she likes to look for ways to make good ideas work.
“Instead we were approached by a man who literally said that we were stupid to fight him because he was going to sue us off the map.”
Bluff resident and business owner Amer Tumeh shared he was disappointed by the tone and tenor of a letter sent out by Ewing which he said read as a political ad with emotionally charged words including threatened, bullied and conspiring.
Tumeh added this was a risk when Bluff incorporated with a large size rather than start small and annex land as they grow. Tumeh added that ill-advised decisions sometimes result in lawsuits.
“(The Acton’s) were both my Sysco salespeople. I would hardly call either one of them rich people, they're the salt of the earth people. As a matter of fact, I wish more people in Bluff were like them.”
Tumeh also called the bluff boundaries arbitrary and capricious with Bluff being the biggest small town in Utah. Tumeh added he’s tired of financing the lawsuit.
“Half the town's income comes from Bluff Dwellings and Desert Rose and you know, all the business owners in Bluff and I think we should use our money for something that's worthwhile.”
At the October 7 meeting the Bluff Town Council heard from the state Trust Lands Administration (TLA) . Andy Bedingfield, managing director of energy and minerals with TLA read a statement regarding communication concerning litigation between TLA and the town of Bluff. The statement noted that TLA’s intent to develop a commercial solar electric generation facility on the bench north of the town has been known by the town of Bluff since 2018. The TLA also said they requested ordinances to allow solar on the bench or to address the use of trust lands in a manner workable for both parties. TLA says the town has yet to act on those requests.
The TLA statement also notes that settlement discussions have been ongoing during litigation with the last offer coming from TLA to the town in May, that request would reportedly leave half of the original request within town boundaries.
The TLA also says they understand the concerns about the watershed and are sensitive to protecting water resources. They also note that the state’s water resources are managed by the state engineer and protected by the division of water quality with authority and jurisdiction belonging to those agencies regardless of town boundaries.
The TLA also says that the boundaries are unprecedentedly large for the size of the population with the TLA saying that the appearance of the inclusion of their lands on the bench seemingly meant to prevent use of the lands.
The decision at the October 7 meeting did disconnect the 640 acre Acton property from the town but did not include the TLA, BLM or St. Christopher's Mission lands.
At the October 7 meeting members of the Bluff town council also approved a letter of support for a BLM application to designate the Bluff River Trail as a National Recreation Trail. The designation covers the entire trail which goes from the center of the town to the portion that is accessible and amenable with the Americans with Disabilities Act at Sand Island.
The BLM has been collecting letters of support from private property owners that have the trail across their land; members of the town council unanimously approved the letter of support.
The town council also approved a letter of support for Bears Ears Partnerships summer river program. The program offers both middle and high school age residents with river trips along the San Juan for youth that may not otherwise be able to experience those trips.
Members of the town council also made plans to fill a two month vacancy on the town council. Town Manager Erin Nelson informed the council that when council member Luanne Hook filed to withdraw from the municipal election she also submitted a resignation effective October 24th. Letters of interest for the remaining two months on the term are due October 27 with a special meeting scheduled by the town on October 28 to interview and appoint a new member.
Hook served on the council since Bluff’s incorporation in 2018 alongside council member Linda Sosa and Mayor Ann Leppanen. All three are not seeking re-election and municipal elections are not being held this year as filing candidates are equal to positions open on the board with Spencer Wade and Gary Haws to fill the town council positions and Joshua Ewing as the town mayor.
In other news the town will have a joint town council and planning and zoning public hearing on October 28 to review important land use documents including the updated town of Bluff general plan and renewable energy ordinance, that ordinance is designed to regulate conditional use permits for large solar and wind projects to consider factors including effects on neighbors and environmental impacts as well as provisions for decommissioning to prevent abandoned facilities.