Controversial New City Near Kanab Is Working for State Approval

It is nice to move into a new home where everything is built just how you want it. What if you could move into a new city? A controversial new city is being planned for Kane County east of Kanab. 

Plans for a New City for Utah in the Works 

Mcrae Heppler does a wonderful job with his videos on YouTube of keeping viewers abreast on new developments throughout Southern Utah. His recent one on the Kanab area gave an update on a new city in the planning stages. 

It will be east of Kanab by a couple of miles where 600 acres of land is being designed for homes, parks, and retail. They would like to incorporate it as a city named Willow. According to Heppler they are going through a feasibility study right now. 

The plan is to have the city approved by fall of this year and then begin building places to live by summer 2027. It isn’t every day you see a new city being organized. However, county leaders are not happy about it.

Planned City is Going Around County Thanks to New State Law 

A bill was passed by the Utah State Legislature that made a new way for cities to be approved in Utah. SB258 says what its purpose is: 

This bill amends the Utah Municipal Code to provide for a pilot program for the incorporation of a preliminary municipality. 

Kane County says it is a way for developers to get around input and zoning laws from the county. They are not happy with what is being done by the state and say it is an overreach. This is one of four such projects happening in the state. 

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However it all turns out, the idea of creating new cities is intriguing. It is one thing to design a neighborhood but a whole city is on another level.