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Public Hearing Notice

Land Use Development Application 

Project Title:              Tin Roof Cabin Resort rezone for Overnight Accommodations Overlay (OAO)-Campground district 

Project Address:         Grand County parcel No. 04-0025-0059 

Project Description:     The application is for an OAO-/Campground rezone for a 373 acre parcel in the La Sal Mountain area. The applicant proposes development of a remote, energy efficient cabin resort. The proposal includes plans for 12 cabins on 17 acres within the property. The applicant has processed the rezone application in accordance with State and County regulation.

Property Owner:             Jick Taylor

Owner Representative:  Tim Keogh

Public Hearing Information

County Planning Commission 

Date:         Monday, February 14, 2022

Time:        4:30 PM or later

Location:  Via Zoom with Meeting ID: 849 3075 3400

       Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84930753400 

Agenda Packet: www.grandcountyutah.net/AgendaCenter

__________________________

For more information contact the

Grand County Planning & Zoning Department

125 E. Center St.

Moab, Utah 84532

435-259-1343

A public hearing is a statutory requirement for some land use decisions.  At a public hearing, members of the public are provided a reasonable opportunity to comment on the subject of the hearing.

              Send written comment to planning@grandcountyutah.net or call 435-259-1343
 

Proposed Project & Information 

Provided by Applicant

The project is generally located approximately a mile NNW of Hidden Lake in the La Sal Mountains.  The 12 cabins, occupying 17.25 acres, results in a project density of 1 unit per 1.44 acres.  The development would fall in the midst of the owners’ vast open spaces ranch lands.   The 17.25 acres consists of scattered Ponderosa pine with groves of Gambrel Oak and native alpine flora, fauna and ground cover consisting of wild grasses and flowers.  It is unlikely these units will be seen from the adjacent county road much less from anywhere else.  The applicant desires to accomplish a remote, private development where guests can enjoy the solitude and the recreational amenities that abound in the area absent the thousands of visitors present in Moab.

The cabins, to be used seasonally, will be of rustic territorial design, utilizing rusty metal and wood siding products and rusty metal roofing.  The cabins will be some 336 square feet with one bed, a bathroom, a kitchenette and a sitting area.  Bicycles can be secured under the front covered porch.  The guests’ vehicle will be parked in front of the unit in a graveled area adequate for parking and turning around.

A grid-tied solar array is proposed to offset the power draw from the grid for the low energy lighting (LED).  Thus the project will have very low impact on the electrical grid.   Wastewater will be collected and delivered to an engineered septic system where a tank will collect the solids and water will be returned to the groundwater via the engineered leach field.   This campground is in the beaver basin water shed that drains to the Delores River at the Utah-Colorado state line.   As the contours depict, the ground is flat and on an even grade dropping to the Northeast.  The minimal runoff created from the roof structures is to be captured via gutters, into rain barrels and used for fire protection.   Roads, driveways and parking areas will be gravel thereby allowing for percolation into the ground and avoiding new quantities of runoff.

Potable water will be hauled and stored in a cistern and delivered via buried pipe to each of the cabins.  The applicant hopes to develop on site potable water in the future.  

Access to the development is via Highway 128 to Castle Valley, passing through Castle Valley via the road to Gateway (County Roads 96 and 85), leaving Road 85 just North of Hidden Lake and taking an unnamed County Class B Road NW approximately ½ mile to its terminus.  In time, the owner hopes to draw the bulk of outdoor recreation seekers from western Colorado with primary access via Gateway.  Over a Friday and Saturday in August, for ten hours each day, traffic was observed from the resort site.  In those two days, 9 vehicles came down the road and turned around upon realizing it was a dead-end route.  It is anticipated that each cabin, at full occupancy, would generate 4 trips per day, resulting in 48 trips, or approximately 1 trip every 10 minutes in the daylight hours.  The proposed use should result in little to no impact on the transportation network.

This development will create one fulltime job and one part time job.  The applicant, having taken up full time residency at his ranch headquarters, will fill the fulltime position and will employ another person, possibly a family member or camp host, to fill the part time position.  The owner proposes to accommodate the housing needs of the part time staff at his ranch headquarters near Hidden Lake.  Both employees would be available for information, cleaning, grounds maintenance, etc.  The applicant hopes that by creating these jobs, he negates the need for these individuals to commute to Moab daily for employment.  

In summary, the development will partially fill a need in Grand County by providing for visitors that desire to spend time on the La Sal Mountains and not in the other busy and congested areas of Grand County.   These are the visitors that want to avoid Moab, the Parks and the sometimes many thousands of other visitors already here.  This development will provide for that visitor a place to spend time in the quiet alpine surrounds of the La Sals while also giving them easy access to tens of thousands of acres of public lands upon which to recreate, and at the same time, causing minimal impacts on Grand County’s infrastructure of roads, water, storm drainage, and emergency services.  The project will provide new employment, it will provide tax dollars from ranching lands that were previously contributing next to nothing to the county coffers, it will provide some relief to the impacts of public lands camping, and above all, leave its guests with memories of an enjoyable visit to Grand County.