outright in the A-10, A-5, Commercial, and Industrial zones. Most county lands are zoned A-5, and most oil and gas drilling and production facilities have not been required to acquire a conditional use permit.
The oil and gas drilling and production facilities section to require administrative conditional use permits for wells (not yet spudded) and compressor stations or water handling facilities (where construction has not commenced) in all zoning districts.
Codifies the traffic estimation and road infrastructure improvement process outlined in the Duchesne County Transportation Master Plan, which was adopted by Resolution in 2017 (and thus did not have the force of law). This will require a traffic forecast to determine if the oil and gas operation will generate “extraordinary use” and what mitigation measures are needed to prepare access roads to accommodate this use. Decisions associated with road improvement requirements will be made by the County Road Department Supervisor, with an appeal to the County Commissioners available in case of disagreement.
As stated in the associated finding documents and in the ordinance, it is not the intent of the County to establish an impact fee.
The proposed Ordinance received initial Planning Commission review on April 3, 2024; the matter was recessed until June 26, 2024, and then again indefinitely, until a pending road study was completed and stakeholders were given eight weeks to review the results of that study and the proposed ordinance. The County Commission has determined that this indefinite recess constituted a negative recommendation under section 8-3-3 B. 9. e. of the Duchesne County Zoning Ordinance.
The County Commission reopened the public hearing regarding this ordinance on July 8th and recessed it until July 29th; and held work sessions on July 15th and 22nd to hear additional comments and work toward finalization of the ordinance.
He also noted the letter received this morning from the Utah Petroleum Association for the record.
Mike Gottfredson introduced the new Community Development Zoning Specialist, Shon McKinnon. Mr. McKinnon expressed his gratitude and excitement for the position.
Jacob Woodland with Wasatch Energy Management wanted the letter submitted by UPA recognized. He read the last paragraph: Despite those concerns, we remain optimistic that pending a review of the Jones and DeMille study, we will be able to set out a system or matrix of costs that reflect an averaged approximate cost associated with heavy industry wear and/or maintenance needs on the roads. In the July 22 Commission work session, we understood that the county intends to share this data after their internal review and to also set out haul routes. We appreciate this development and would seek to ensure that these haul routes are regularly updated as industry development progresses, and that industry funding provided through this ordinance is directed to those haul routes. Most importantly, we ask that the Jones and DeMille study be shared as promptly as possible and time be granted for industry to work with this data to present a proposal to the Commission. Our continued sharing of projected operations and trucking data, as recently as last Monday, July 22nd, demonstrates our good faith commitment to finding a mutually agreeable solution to the industry associated impacts on county roads. We want to restate our commitment to finding solutions that address road needs and sincerely believe that we can arrive at a reasonable solution based on the Jones and DeMille study data, but we cannot support the ordinance as it is currently drafted.
Rikki Hrenko-Browning with UPA echoed Jake Woodland's comments. She would also like to see the study from Jones and DeMille and have time to review it. She thinks the study would help the industry and the county come together. She would also like to see the newly revised ordinance.
The parties discussed the meeting with Jones and DeMille on Thursday to get the data, which could possibly be available to the industry on Friday.
Community Development Director Mike Hyde addressed the newly revised ordinance. He said he would send it out after the Commission had reviewed it.
Zane Lay with Ovintiv thanked the parties for the work done with the ordinance and encouraged them to continue the process and give the industry time to evaluate the study once it is complete.