$80M bond offering, 100 acres under contract: Tooele County’s Inland Port project underway

GRANTSVILLE — The funding for an industrial park in Tooele County, though contested by some residents and environmental activists, is part of county officials’ plans to bring more jobs to a fast-growing area of the state.

“We are growing so fast, and more and more people are traveling outside of Tooele County, which means that they’re spending more and more time away from home,” Tooele County Councilman Jared Hamner said.

Almost 75% of residents travel outside Tooele County for work, according to a 2023 economic development report.

Reliance on commuting for work puts the county in a difficult position, according to Hamner. Commercial spending, and the tax revenue it generates, are siphoned off into Salt Lake County. Roadways become bottlenecks and the retention of local talent becomes more difficult.

“We want to bring in businesses that pay a good wage,” Hamner said.

The county worked with the Utah Inland Port Authority to conduct a feasibility study, identifying different areas that could be developed into an industrial business park.

A 243-acre area of land about six miles north of Grantsville was identified as the ideal location for a project area. Andy Welch, Tooele County manager, said three key factors went into selecting that specific site — the pre-existing manufacturing zoning, proximity to I-80 and the adjacent rail infrastructure.

In April 2023, Tooele County passed a resolution to designate the project area. The Port Authority Board approved it in December.

About 162 of those acres are owned by Zenith Bolinder LLC, a partnership with longtime Utah developer Zenith Development and owners of Bolinder Resources LLC.

“They want to see it as an industrial area out there, but nobody has invested any money because these local governments don’t have it,” Zenith Development Managing Director Chuck Ackerlow told KSL.com.

Inclusion within the Utah Inland Port project area gives the project greater visibility to potential business, according to Ackerlow, and “would also give us access to the bonding market because, out in this location, there is no sewer, there is no water there, there’s no electric, there’s no gas — it was just a piece of ground.”

In March, a public infrastructure district was created that can leverage the sale of bonds to fund the construction of roads, utilities and wastewater systems for the area. That infrastructure would be owned by the public district, per an agreement with the county, which did not feel it was adequately resourced to service the somewhat remote area.

The tax differential funding would return to the district throughout the 25-year agreement. Only the industrial park users would pay the tax levies.

A commissioned market and valuation report when forming the public infrastructure district found that 57% of people surveyed believe “a lot of effort” should be placed on economic development in Tooele County, and 37% responded that “at least some” effort should be made.

The district board authorized the issuance of tax differential bonds on Aug. 30, a total of $80 million, which includes interest paid back over the next 25 to 30 years, and fees, according to Ackerlow.

In a public hearing following the bond issuance, which happened on Sept. 24, critics of the project area made their voices heard.

Nan Seymour, a Salt Lake poet, said it was “reckless to be developing wetlands so close to the lake. There might be better and worse ways to do it, but none of them are good,” she said, encouraging the developers to “divest from a system of harm.”

“There’s no public purpose for this bond sale,” said Deeda Seed, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity and one of the most consistent critics of the Utah Inland Port. She claimed no water resource analysis had been done and, in a press release, said the bond issuance would “fund privately owned, poorly regulated infrastructure.”

Her group, along with the Utah Physicians for a Health Environment, brought a lawsuit against the Inland Port Authority in September requesting the group’s board withdraw all actions taken in the last two years. The same two organizations issued a formal letter calling for the bond issuance to be stopped. They also submitted signatures from 800 people opposed to the bond sale.

Resident James Steven said, “The developers themselves don’t even believe this is a viable business park, the entire thing is already for sale.”

Ackerlow later told KSL.com, “We are our land guys and our job is to deliver the land with all the utilities and the streets and everything else. Then the businesses buy the property and build their own buildings.”

Most of the complaints against the bond sale were existential, arguing against any development this close to the Great Salt Lake or in Tooele County, where air pollution and water availability are a constant concern. They feel the decision has been rushed.

Two commenters said they would be picking up and leaving the county due to this kind of development, despite being decades-long residents.

“We don’t believe those projects are too close to the Great Salt Lake,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said when asked about the area in his September news conference. “We’ve worked very closely to make sure that this type of development is actually protective of the Great Salt Lake, and that we’ll be able to create some barriers there.”

Ackerlow and Hamner argue they have done everything necessary for responsible development. “The council that we have right now is a data-driven council,” said Hamner. “We will not make decisions on a whim.”

Ackerlow has gone through significant permitting and approval processes with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Utah Division of Environmental Quality, while conducting traffic, geotechnical and wetlands mitigation studies.

Five wetland areas of about 19 acres were identified. He got an approved permit to build a two-lane road across a portion of the wetlands using a culvert system and says none of the industrial development will touch the environmentally sensitive areas.

He said the water treatment facilities he plans on developing are above and beyond what the state requires, and the development is not as speculative as residents believe.

The valuation report suggests that “the initial demand for industrial development in Tooele Valley PID is projected to be high, with 450,000 square-feet annually the first three years.”

“We are under contract for about 110 acres already,” said Ackerlow. “And they’re good clean businesses,” including a recycler and a tiny home manufacturer bringing an estimated 600 jobs.

“Businesses are moving here and why shouldn’t we make room for them?” he said.