Tooele County Attorney Doug Hogan said the county’s legal challenge will focus on the premise that the board declined to weigh up much of the information presented to it in opposition to the project after defining its own mandate from the state too narrowly.
“This means two things will happen,” Hogan said. “One, we’re going to request the order of the board be stayed, which means Tooele County wouldn’t have to grant a conditional use permit. Then, with the appeal, we’ll look at the order that was issued by the board and compare it to the state statute [governing the board’s mandate]. I think with the nature of our challenge we believe the board narrowly construed their authority. There were things they could have done but declined to do.”
The county has retained attorney Alan Sullivan of the law firm Snell & Wilmer, which has a Salt Lake City office, to assist the county in its legal challenge.
The county must first approach the Utility Facility Review Board with the request to stay its June 21 order — a request Hogan believes will be denied. The next step is filing a stay and notice of appeal with the Utah Court of Appeals.
“If the stay is not granted, that may be the end of the road,” Hogan said. “I think the issue of the stay, whether it’s granted or not, is very important.”
Missy Thompson: missy@tooeletranscript.com
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