A contentious legal battle regarding the Wasatch Peaks Ranch ski resort in Morgan County has come to a conclusion.

Friday morning, the under-construction resort announced in a press release a resolution between it, the county and a group of Morgan County residents petitioning to reverse the Morgan County Council’s original zoning change that paved the way for development.

“Today, Wasatch Peaks Ranch, Morgan County, and the Referendum Sponsors (Robert Bohman, Whitney Croft, Shelley Paige, Brandon Peterson, David Pike, and Cindy Carter) announced that they have reached an agreement regarding the referendum case and injunction for the Wasatch Peaks Ranch zoning,” the release said.

The Wasatch Peaks plans call for development of a private residential community containing skiing, golf and other recreational amenities spread across 12,000 acres of largely undeveloped land. Last month, a 2nd District Court judge ordered a temporary restraining order that had halted work on the site.

“As part of the agreement, Wasatch Peaks Ranch has committed to a pledge to help fund projects specifically aimed at benefiting the residents of Morgan County. Additionally, Wasatch Peaks Ranch has agreed to allocate approximately 2,300 acres of land for a conservation easement. This measure ensures that this area of land will be permanently protected from future development, preserving its natural beauty and ecosystem forever. Further details regarding additional public benefits beyond the conservation easement will be provided in due course.”

In the release, Wasatch Peaks Ranch Managing Director Ed Schultz said the agreement came from discussions with the community.

“This agreement was achieved after thorough discussions and community feedback with the primary objective of benefiting the larger Morgan County Community,” he stated.

According to previous Standard-Examiner reporting, the legal fight over the Wasatch Peaks Ranch project started on Nov. 27, 2019, when the five residents filed suit against Morgan County after Stacy Netz Clark, then the county clerk, rejected their paperwork seeking permission to petition. Clark had said the petitioners didn’t follow the steps set out in state law, including proper certification of their Utah residency and inclusion of the pertinent ordinance they wanted to challenge with their paperwork.

Carter told the Standard-Examiner on Friday that the process has been taxing for everyone involved.

“This is now year No. 5 and there were some difficult roads ahead of us on both sides,” she said. “This has been hard on the community. There’s obviously division and I just think it was a good time for us to sit down and work together and come up with something.”

She said she feels the county was ultimately lacking in how it handled the situation.

“Ultimately, it’s the county that I’m probably the most disgusted with just because I believe the six of us did their job for them,” she said. “We did what they should’ve been doing all along.”

Carter said area residents are ready to move forward.

“We’re just looking forward to be able to work together and to let our community heal and hopefully move forward in a positive direction on all sides,” she said.

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