Utah Supreme Court sends West Hills incorporation to 2026 ballot

The proposed site of "West Hills." Photo: West Hills website

The ruling reverses a lower court decision and allows voters within the proposed town boundary to decide whether West Hills should incorporate.

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — The proposed town of West Hills will go before voters in the 2026 general election after the Utah Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that had blocked the incorporation effort.

In a July 2 opinion, the court reinstated Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s certification of the West Hills incorporation petition, allowing the ballot question to move forward. The proposed town is located between Kamas and Hideout, along State Route 248.

The case centered on whether Utah’s incorporation code violated the Utah Constitution’s Uniform Operation of Laws Clause. A group of landowners sued after they were added to the proposed West Hills boundary, even though two statutory windows to request exclusion from the proposed town had already passed.

Third District Court granted summary judgment to the landowners, finding that the incorporation code treated similarly situated landowners differently and failed rational basis review. The Utah Supreme Court agreed that the law treated some landowners differently, but found that the distinction was constitutional because the Legislature had a reasonable basis for setting a cutoff point.

“Cutting off exclusion rights at a certain point locks the boundaries and moves the incorporation process forward,” the court wrote. The justices said the cutoff helps prevent repeated boundary changes and feasibility studies, and that the final incorporation election itself remains a safeguard.

The court reversed the district court’s decision and reinstated the lieutenant governor’s certification of the petition for the 2026 general election.

The ruling does not incorporate West Hills. It returns the question to voters within the proposed boundary, who will decide whether the area should become a town.

West Hills has been in process since 2023, when TownLift reported that a group of residents, farmers and landowners submitted a proposal to create a new town between Hideout and Kamas through the lieutenant governor’s office. At the time, the group said it wanted to pursue local control over future growth and land use.

TownLift reported in February 2025 that the proposal had cleared a key hurdle after supporters submitted a petition to the state on Jan. 16. The petition said 11 registered voters had signed in support, representing 23% of the 47 registered voters within the proposed area, and that supporting landowners collectively owned more than 10% of the private land area and more than 7% of the value of private property within the proposed town.

The Lt. Governor’s Office lists Derek Anderson as the designated sponsor for West Hills and includes the initial feasibility request, the modified feasibility study, the incorporation map, and the petition and certification documents among its public incorporation materials.

The modified feasibility study, prepared by LRB Public Finance Advisors in December 2024, reviewed population, revenue, fiscal impacts, projected tax burden and updated boundaries for the proposed municipality.

TownLift previously reported that the proposal has divided the community, with supporters describing incorporation as a way to govern locally and control development, while opponents have raised concerns about rural character and the future of the Kamas Valley.

The West Hills question is now headed to the 2026 general election ballot.