Council members will extend Dave Sanderson's contract as the interim administrative-services director until Sept. 15 and appoint him the interim city manager while they conduct a nationwide search for a permanent executive.

The move comes after a referendum vote that stripped Mayor Claudia Anderson's executive powers and handed them to a council-appointed manager.

Meanwhile, two zoning appeals have been on hold because Bluffdale had no active Board of Adjustment. The former five members' terms had expired.

The lack of a board led H.R. Brown to sue the city after he could not get a hearing over the city's denial of his Renaissance Ranch drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation center.

Brown and his brother want to move their faith-based facility into a Bluffdale neighborhood zoned for residential property. But as they neared completion on the 7,000-square-foot center, the city denied them a business license.

H.R. Brown says the facility is a "disability home" and should be permitted under the federal Fair Housing Act and state law.

His attorney, Gregory Simonsen, said the board's appointments would not change the lawsuit's status.

"As far as I'm concerned, when we wanted to appeal, Bluffdale didn't have a board," Simonsen said. "We haven't received any notice of a hearing, and we want this heard by the court."

- Steve Gehrke