Wasatch County (July 17, 2026)—The Wasatch County Council has adopted a comprehensive update to the General Plan, culminating more than a yearlong, community-driven process to update the County’s guiding document that informs decisions and policies to proactively balance growth while preserving the resources, values, and character that define Wasatch County. Wasatch County’s last comprehensive general plan update was completed in 2001.

While the General Plan does not directly change zoning or approve specific developments, it serves as the foundation for future land use decisions, master plans, local area plans, and development regulations. It establishes the policies County leaders will use when evaluating future proposals.

Wednesday’s public hearing was the final step in a rigorous process built on technical studies, interagency coordination, and community outreach. The plan reflects one of the County's most extensive public engagement efforts in recent years including a dedicated citizen advisory committee that met throughout the fall of 2025 and hundreds of other participants contributing thousands of individual comments and survey responses collected through open houses, online mapping exercises, public meetings, and surveys.

“This plan is better because so many people took the time to participate,” said planner Austin Corry. “Whether someone attended an open house, completed a survey, served on the advisory committee, or simply shared a comment online, those conversations helped shape the final product. We’re incredibly grateful for the community’s willingness to be part of this process.”

Residents helped identify the values, priorities, and tradeoffs that ultimately shaped the vision, goals, and policies adopted in the final document. Beyond establishing a long-range vision, it includes implementation strategies, performance measures, and a schedule for ongoing review to ensure the plan remains relevant as conditions change.

The update process began in March 2025, with four main objectives:

• Improve readability, interpretation, and predictability of the plan.
• Align plan policies with specific community values.
• Enhance community engagement and education opportunities.
• Develop a mechanism to ensure the Plan is regularly reviewed.

Counties in Utah are required by state code to adopt a General Plan that addresses four key areas: land use, housing, transportation, and water. Wasatch County’s plan goes further, establishing goals and policies on environmental stewardship, public services, and economic health.

“We intentionally chose to lead the entire plan with environmental stewardship because safeguarding our natural assets must be a priority,” Corry emphasized. “How we protect our pristine water quality, wildlife, agricultural lands, and scenic landscapes determines the kind of community we leave to our children.”

The General Plan prioritizes working together with cities, special service districts, regional partners, landowners, and residents to ensure decisions in one jurisdiction strengthen the whole by:

• Managing growth by directing it away from sensitive areas and helping cities achieve their own long-term visions.
• Keeping rural separation in unincorporated areas to preserve community identity by providing the “connective tissue” and agricultural buffers that keep our areas distinct.
• Treating roads and trails as critical, shared systems that connect neighborhoods, cities, and destinations across jurisdictions, reinforcing safety, access, and recreation as countywide priorities.
• Utilizing a variety of strategies that respect the unique geographic diversity of areas throughout the county from the Jordanelle Basin to Soldier Summit.

The plan’s appendices include a County Resource Management Plan, an implementation matrix, and a Jordanelle Local Area Plan, which provides more specific guidance on land use, design, transportation, and housing for the 33,000-acre Jordanelle Planning Area.

Adoption of the General Plan marks the beginning of implementation. The County will now use the plan to guide updates to master plans, local area plans, development regulations, and capital planning while tracking progress through annual reviews and implementation measures.

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About the Wasatch County General Plan
The General Plan is Wasatch County’s long‑range policy guide for land use, transportation, housing, public services, environmental stewardship, open space and recreation, and economic development. It establishes the vision, goals, and policies that guide master plans and local area plans, and the implementation of those plans through land use code, engineering standards, architectural design standards, and other land use decisions. Learn more about the Wasatch County General Plan at wasatchcounty.gov/generalplan.