Commissioner Miles thanked her for the comments and asked: Do you have any damage different in kind than, or an injury distinct from, that of the general community as a result of the land use decision?

I would say, as a resident of Duchesne County and as many people who signed the original appeals, yes, this will affect us. It will affect me personally, as a resident of Duchesne County, whether we're talking about tax revenue, water, or even just quality of life and air quality. We're already outside of non-attainment for the basin, pretty consistently since 2018.

Speaking on behalf of Diana Meacham Davis is Andrea Glade (Annie). She said: Again, I am speaking on behalf of the petitioners appealing the Planning Commission's April 2nd, 2026 approval of a conditional use permit for the Wells Draw Energy LLC natural gas power plant. This appeal is not about whether Duchenne County supports economic development, because it clearly does.

The question the commission now faces is whether the Planning Commission initially complied with the mandatory findings and evidentiary standards required by Duchenne County Code and Utah Land Use Law. Respectfully, the record shows that it did not. At the outset, for accuracy in the record, the findings report contains a typographical error on its front page, identifying the natural gas power plant allocation as a solar power plant. Despite that error, the findings report substantially address natural gas power plant, and this appeal concerns the conditional use permit for the Wells Draw Energy LLC natural gas facility, not the solar project. Under Utah law, a land use decision is presumed valid only if it is supported by substantial evidence and is legally correct.

A decision is arbitrary and capricious when required findings are unsupported by evidence and illegal when the governing ordinance is misapplied. Utah appellate courts also require written findings detailed enough to permit meaningful review. Conclusory findings are not enough. Duchenne County Code Section 8-13-4 requires 3 findings before a conditional use can be approved. First, the use will not be unduly detrimental to public health, safety, or welfare. Second, it complies with the county general plan. And third, that the site is of adequate size and dimensions to operate without being intentionally detrimental to surrounding properties. The April 2nd findings and documentation provided in the original findings report at the time of the hearing do not meet these standards.

First, the finding of the general plan consistency is conclusory. The findings report states only that the General Plan supports economic development in energy-related industries. It does not identify any specific General Plan policies, nor does it analyze how this project complies with the General Plan when read as a whole. Economic development cannot be treated as a determinant. The General Plan also includes policies addressing resource protection, recreation, and tourism. Tourism, scenic corridors, wildlife habitat and migration, and public access. Those policies were raised in the appeal already submitted, and they are directly implicated by this site, yet the findings report does not analyze or reconcile them.

The Commission also appeared to accept the notion that this project is appropriate, given that natural gas development already exists in the area. That assumption is unsupported by the record. Existing gas extraction is not the same land use as what was approved here. The findings report also does not identify any prior conditional or industrial use on the subject parcels. The land is zoned as A-5 agriculture, and the record contains no findings that the parcels were previously used for any energy production or any other non-agricultural purpose.

Accordingly, this conditional use permit represents a change from agricultural open land to a permanent industrial power generation use. State and oil and gas mapping maintained by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining shows regional oil and gas activity in the Wells Draw area, but does not identify an existing industrial power generation or gas processing facility on the proposed parcels. The county's findings report likewise treats the proposed natural gas power plant as a new use requiring a conditional use permit, rather than as the continuation or expansion of an existing facility. This project is a 400-megawatt continuously operating natural gas power plant with 800 to 1,600 megawatt-hours of