Lost Creek town proposal back before Utah officials

State resumed processing the Browns Canyon preliminary municipality request Sept. 19 as plans continue for a development of up to 3,002 homes

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — A developer-backed effort to create a new municipality in Browns Canyon is back before the Utah Office of the Lieutenant Governor after the state initially declined to process the request earlier this year.

The Lost Creek proposal is tied to a large development planned for Browns Canyon that could include up to 3,002 housing units. TownLift first reported on the proposal in March.

The Lieutenant Governor’s Office contacted Lost Creek sponsors Sept. 17 to ask whether they wanted to continue with their preliminary municipality request, spokesperson Amy Iverson told TownLift. The sponsors responded Sept. 18 that they did, and the state began processing the request Sept. 19 under Utah Code 10-2a-503.

Lost Creek first sought to enter the state process at the beginning of the year.

The Lieutenant Governor’s Office received the feasibility request Jan. 1. In a Feb. 5 determination, the office said it could not accept the request because two other preliminary municipality feasibility requests had already been filed statewide that year, reaching the limit allowed under Utah law.

While the state process was stalled, the development continued moving through Summit County.

Garff Rogers Ranches LLC and Ivory Development have asked the county to create a new Lost Creek Community Zone in Browns Canyon. A Lost Creek Community Plan dated January 2026 showed a maximum buildout of 3,002 housing units. County materials have described a range of 2,285 to 3,002 units on about 407.5 developable acres.

The preliminary municipality filing submitted to the state describes about 490.5 acres and 510 units, including 255 nightly rental units. It lists GRR-Lost Creek LLC and E B R Management LLC as the applicants and property owners and identifies Ivory Development President Christopher P. Gamvroulas as the primary contact and sponsor.

The Browns Canyon property is currently zoned AG-80, which generally allows one unit of density for every 80 acres. The applicants are seeking creation of a new Lost Creek Community Zone that would establish a different zoning framework for the property.

Creating the zone would not, by itself, approve a final development. County planner Ray Milliner told the Eastern Summit County Planning Commission in April that additional approvals, including a master-planned development and rezone process, would still be required. TownLift reported on that discussion here.

During a May work session, planning commissioners questioned Ivory Development representatives about the proposal’s scale, water, traffic, infrastructure, phasing, and possible future incorporation. TownLift covered that meeting here.

The municipality process is now active again at the state level.

Utah lawmakers created the preliminary municipality process through Senate Bill 258 in 2024. The law provides a path for qualifying landowners to create a preliminary municipality and eventually incorporate.

The law has since drawn opposition from some local governments. Wasatch County voted in September to ask state lawmakers to repeal the preliminary municipality program. TownLift reported on that effort here.

Iverson said the Lieutenant Governor’s Office is working to post Lost Creek’s initial request on its public incorporations website.

The office did not provide a timeline for completing its review.