DISPUTE OVER ACCESS • Juab County and landowner Gordon Young are in dispute on a road Juab County wants to build across Young's property east of Mona. Juab County wants access to get the heavy gravel trucks off old highway 91 and onto I-15. Above, this pit is east of the Mona interchange and the road would go across Young's property near this spot. Juab County has said that they will take the property for the road by using Eminent Domain if the parties cannot come to an agreement. Juab County already has agreements on other lands to the north and only needs Young's before they can build the road.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
The final vote on an eminent domain action, on the part of the county, Vs. Herman Young & Sons, Inc. property has been postponed for two months.
Gordon Young, Mona, a representative of the Young family, met with county commissioners to discuss the proposed action.
"Let us see if we can get together," said Commissioner Rick Carlton.
He said that he encouraged Young and his attorney to reconsider the county's offer and to come back with some recommendations of ways that the deadlock might be broken without the county having to initiate eminent domain proceedings.
Young said that would just take more money for more appraisals and require more time for negotiations. Still, after consideration, Young agreed that he would do that and within the two month period set by commissioners.
Prior to the meeting, Jared Eldridge, county attorney, had sent a letter to Young's attorney but had not had a response.
In the beginning of Monday's discussion, Young took the position that, for several years, he and various commissioners had discussed his property and what the county perceived as a public need for his property in order to make an access or frontage road. They had not come to an agreement.
"Now you are using force to take my ground," he said.
Government entities, such as the county, in this instance, may "take" private property through the eminent domain process.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the government to provide just compensation to the owner of the private property to be taken. A variety of property rights are subject to eminent domain, such as air, water, and land rights. The government takes private property through condemnation proceedings. Throughout these proceedings, the property owner has the right of due process.
"This need was created by the county," said Young. "The Kilgore pit was allowed to be opened by the county."
Chad Winn, commission chairman, said that the county had followed the county zoning maps in allowing the gravel pits to open.
Rick Carlton, commissioner, said that the east bench, above Interstate 15 and east of the Mona area, was owned by various gravel or aggregate hauling companies.
Those companies were now traveling north from the aggregate sites to a county road rather than to the freeway. That was a danger to the public. In the future, there may be even more need of a frontage road.
Interstate 15 passes north-south through Juab Valley, servicing the towns of Nephi and Mona. Before the freeway was built, U.S. Highway 91 was the main route, and its alignment is still largely in place today. It becomes Main Street in both Mona and Nephi.
"We are trying to keep Old 91 from being used by the gravel-hauling trucks," he said.
One death had already occurred as a result of the gravel trucks using that roadway. It is a two-lane roadway still used by residents of the county but now also used by large double trailer gravel hauling units.
He said that the other property owners along the proposed frontage road had already deeded their property, and that included DWR (Department of Wildlife Resources), to be used for the roadway and Young was now the lone holdout.
"I own the property by the interchange," said Young. "There is better than a mile of gravel road the trucks will have to travel to get to the interchange."
He said those truckers would not use the alternate road when there was a shorter route available. It would mean that they would have to pay more in fuel and inconvenience to get to the freeway rather than using the shorter route they now used to get to Old 91.
"WW Clyde has a right-of-way through my land," said Young.
West Rock and Kilgore were the other gravel pit users who would be hauling gravel from the bench above the freeway.
Carlton said that trucks could not go east because the elevation went up and that made it difficult on the trucks.
Carlton had found an appraiser who was well qualified in appraising gravel properties, since the previous companies which had done the work had not been as well-qualified as Young wished.
However, said Young, even in the latest work done there had been flaws.
"Most have not even been qualified to appraise gravel property," he said.
What the county was requesting was just three acres of the Young property.
As far as he was concerned, said Young, the road would devalue his property. It made it more difficult to chase cattle and perform other work required by a rancher.
"I prefer not to have a road," said Young. "How are you going to force them to use the road?"
The gravel truck drivers wee not going to want to go an extra mile on a gravel road and add 20-minutes to their trip.
He said the only companies to use the road, and then only if forced, would be Kilgore and West Rock. WW Clyde would not do so.
Carlton said he thought the frontage road was the answer to the county's problems.
"I respectfully disagree," said Young.
Byron Woodland said that the county thought the most compelling reason for building the alternate road was getting the traffic off of 91 and, for that reason, it was wise to build the frontage road which would lead to the freeway exchange and would take truck traffic along the freeway rather than along the two-lane 91.
"The cost to me is a big concern but public safety is a bigger concern," said Woodland.
"How do you propose to force the truckers to use the road?" Young asked. "It will add millions of dollars to their trips."
Woodland said that commissioners had been working with the trucking companies to encourage trucks to access the interchange. Those gravel hauling companies had granted property to the county so the road could be built.
"We may have to add restrictions," said Carlton. "Something needs to be done."
Young said the only thing that he could see working to make the companies use the access road would be imposing a weight limit on Old 91.
Winn said that several experts commissioners had consulted on the question of building a road to ease the wear and tear on the public highway and to protect public safety thought the move was wise and would work.
