Sandy » Some residents of Granite, an unincorporated area at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, have skipped a 2010 vote on becoming Salt Lake County's seventh township. They chose an option that won't be on the ballot next November: Sandy.
On Tuesday, the Sandy City Council unanimously granted an annexation request made for 28 homes on Bell Canyon Road and Bell Canyon Circle.
The decision breaks away a 13-acre chunk of Granite, which some residents would like to see preserved as an unincorporated township, joining Millcreek, Magna and other county communities. Salt Lake County filed a formal protest of the annexation with the boundary commission, arguing state law protects Granite's boundaries until next year's township vote.
But the Bell Canyon residents opted for a different path toward self-determination. Supporters -- not everyone in the new annexation wanted it -- said Sandy could offer lower taxes, better police protection and a more responsive government.
As of a public hearing last week, owners representing 56 percent of the land and 51 percent of the property values had agreed to be annexed. Since then, the numbers have grown to 74 percent and 71 percent.
"When you have almost a 3-to-1 margin there, I believe that's the way it should go," Sandy Councilman Scott Cowdell said. "I believe the street and the neighborhood ought to be ruled by the majority of folks that lives there."
Last week, County Councilman Max Burdick, who represents Sandy and Granite, asked the Sandy council to pass a resolution, agreeing not to consider any additional annexation requests in Granite until after the 2010 vote.
The City Council did not do so on Tuesday, though Councilman Dennis Tenney backed the idea.
"I certainly support that concept," he said. He added that Sandy has never had a policy of "gobbling up portions of Salt Lake County" by actively soliciting annexation requests.
John Poulos, who lives in the Bell Canyon neighborhood and protested the annexation, said he had hoped the whole Granite community would participate in the 2010 vote.
"We thought we should be able to vote together on it," he said. "We don't like being dragged into the annexation."
