Erda Community Association
Welcome to the Erda Community Association, Inc.
We are a non-profit organization seeking donations to fund protecting Erda, Utah, and our rural and agricultural lifestyle.
Please DONATE to help fight Corruption and waste in our community.
Let’s face it, we all know growth is going to happen, and a realistic approach is the only way to solve this. What we desire is for the increase in population to be in harmony with existing properties and so that everyone in Erda can enjoy all that Erda has to offer.
There is a massive disconnect between the citizens of Erda, Utah, and the government officials that are supposed to serve us. The county commissioners aren’t genuinely listening.
We formed the Erda Community Association so that we can give everyone in Tooele County a voice about the future growth of our beautiful County. Together we can protect the area we live in and keep Erda rural.
We don’t believe that the Tooele County government has had the people’s best interest at heart.
They seem to favor rapid development without due diligence of developer agreements. The rapid growth and density they have planned will come with conflict in our agriculture and land use.
While higher density housing is needed in the region, it does not fit Erda. There are plenty of areas and land available that are better suited for 10,000 square foot residential lots and apartment living. The County promised to keep West Erda no smaller than 1 acre lots and East Erda no smaller than 5 acre lots. Many people built under this premise and expected their neighborhoods to be similar to what they bought.
Now the County has changed the general plan with higher density housing in areas that don’t make sense. The changes conflict with the original zoning many people moved to Erda to enjoy.
Help Keep Erda Rural
The Tooele County Commissioners implemented a new chapter in the land code use Chapter 31 where Section 31-2 subsection 2 states:
- "This chapter establishes an approval and entitlement process to promote inventive and efficient land use patterns that would otherwise be difficult under typical zoning ordinances."
- It goes on to talk about land use districts of Planned Community Zones
- Neighborhoods
- Villages
- Town Center
- Business Research and Development or Educational Campus
- Open Spaces
The entire purpose is to circumvent zoning changes, which could be challenged by a citizen referendum petition. Even with that, as long as the zone has 150 acres located in unincorporated Tooele County, they can use this newly created code.
To make things short, this leaves it up to the County to do what they want with a new process involving “Developer Agreements” as an administrative action excluding public involvement. Many developers have already found loopholes in existing agreements that are unclear or ambiguous over if a developer or taxpayer will end up paying for obligations in the contract.
Ultimately we see the changes resulting in a lot of disputes over the livestock and other agriculture activities that come with rural living. The future complaints about the smell of horses, cows, and sheep will lead to even more changes in law and zoning.
These laws will be the beginning of the end for Erda as it exists today.
You don’t have to go very far back in history to look at what happened to West Jordan, South Jordan, Herriman, or Bluffdale. Agriculture and rural living are being wiped out at the decree of “We need affordable housing.” We also need agriculture. No farms, no food. How do we raise a generation of children that desire to have an interest in agriculture or farming when we don’t allocate areas to appreciate and train in it?
Beyond that, most of us have concerns over the quality and quantity of water in the valley. Many of us rely on well water, and many residents without a well have not directly paid for the investment in acquiring water. They don’t think about protecting this scarce resource. A lot of people turn on the tap and have no real thought about where their water comes from. Let alone how much is left.
Owners of wells think about this almost daily as the investment these days is $50,000 to $80,000 to supply well water to a home. USGS studies have been brought up to the commissioners in public meetings, and they either don’t care or don’t understand.
Their response has always been “water is a state issue, and if someone has water rights, they are free to use them.” While that is somewhat true, the fact remains that water tables in Erda have been dropping for years. Private wells are being drilled deeper (according to Mike Zimmerman and well owners paying to do it). We all have a responsibility to make sure we are not growing beyond the capacity of our aquifers. We have to be able to sustain our families.
It has become clear that while we can use the laws to help shape some of our growth, for now, it is also going to require funding. Donations will be used to help with attorney costs, litigation, and other legal costs such as printing referendums, advertising, and community events — everything required to raise awareness. We must stay connected and involved as a community. Please help us by placing a donation for this non-profit organization. We’re your friends and neighbors. United, we can find a solution that works for everyone.