FARMINGTON—A vocal and sometimes unruly crowd filled the commission office and spilled into an overflow at Tuesday’s meeting to speak against the proposed annexation of an unincorporated area of Val Verda into North Salt Lake City. The commissioners listened to comments during the public hearing before making a decision on whether to approve a resolution to annex the area between 3400 South and 4000 South and Orchard Drive and Hwy 89.

Prior to allowing the public to speak, Davis County Economic Development Planner Jeff Oyler presented to the commission the reasoning behind the proposal.

“The purpose is to provide upgraded improvements to urban services,” he said. “Development occurred in these boundaries in the 50s and 60s. Area B has been part of annexation plans since 2003.”

Oyler said they have received comments and emails from residents who don’t want to be annexed into North Salt Lake; they'd rather be in Bountiful. “Bountiful has not had an annex in 20 years. It’s not in their plans. They’re not interested in expanding their boundaries. They don’t want it. It is in North Salt Lake’s plan and has been for many years.”

A notice was mailed to all property owners on Sept. 8 for the public hearing. “Under the law there are four formal things to consider,” said Oyler. “First, this would create more efficiency for the city than the county can provide such as police response and street maintenance. This would all be better service in a closer proximity. In addition, trash pickup and high speed internet service are all things the county does not not provide.”

Second, the proposed area of annexation is all built out, Oyler said. “There is little development left to annex. It (annex) will likely never happen without the proposal.”

The third is the consideration of consolidating service, he said. “Both North Salt Lake and the County law enforcement respond to the area so there’s an overlap in services. With this, North Salt Lake would become the police force and the county would be backup but not the primary responder.”

Fourth, city services are more effective at the city level than the county level, said Oyler. “Other unincorporated areas are mostly in the north not the south so it takes time to clear roads and provide community services. North Salt Lake can give improved services.”

North Salt Lake also allows animal keeping rights, the county does not, he said. “Garbage pickup is more uniform and more efficient so it’s significantly less expensive.”

Parks and recreation programs, fall and spring cleanups and youth programs are things the county does not provide either, Oyler said. “Being part of the city you have local representation so you can run for city council and take part in the planning.”

The con is there will likely be a change of address, he said. “North Salt Lake is on a grid system. It’s a hard pill to swallow and I know this will be a problem for some. I believe there will also be an increase in property tax. I don’t think we should side step that.”

After Oyler finished his presentation, a steady stream of residents came to the podium to give their reasons for opposing the annexation. 

“I’m deeply concerned about the burden the change of address would have on families in the area,” said one woman. “They have not chosen to move but they have to change utilities, etc. and deal with lost mail and the negative impact of credit scores even though they didn’t physically move. It’s involuntary and our voices should count above all others.”

Frank Coon owns large businesses along Hwy 89. “If you’ve been in business for yourself you know it’s a tough road,” he said. “If we move into NSL we’ll have to change all of our ads, logos and business cards. All of that will impede me from conducting business in a fair way.”

John Marsh is in favor of the annexation. “The Davis County Sheriff takes forever to respond,” he said. “North Salt Lake is closer. If there’s a problem I can go to North Salt Lake. I don’t have to drive to people in Farmington.”

“I don’t want it,” said one man pounding on the podium to make his point. “It’s all about development and nothing more.”

“We’ve been trying to get rid of all the islands,” said Commission Chair Randy Elliott. “This is cleanup work that should have been done years ago.”

“We represent the people but we also represent the county,” said Commissioner Bob Stevenson. “What we look at is our general plan. Counties develop then develop into cities that incorporate all the land in their area. Cities run cities better than the county does.”

Commissioner Lorene Kamalu was absent but Elliott and Stevenson voted in favor of the resolution to annex the area into North Salt Lake. Now it goes to the city to move forward with the proposal.λ