Councilman Bryan Draper said expansion is inevitable, but this small community west of Santaquin will not reap any benefits from the annexation, which would make up for the inconvenience and strain on the town.

"We'll have all the impact and none of the revenue," Draper said.

Sandy Greenwood, a leader of annexation opponents, agrees. She said residents don't want to subsidize a developer's plan to increase Genola's population - it's now at nearly 1,000 people.

"We didn't want to annex 1,000 acres to double our population," said Greenwood.

Mountain Shores Development sought to annex 1,000 acres in unincorporated Utah County into the city for a project that could have built as many as 300 homes.

This summer, the council agreed to put the annexation question on the ballot as a legally nonbinding referendum. Because the council pledged to abide by the results, its members will be sending Mountain Shores a letter formally ending the annexation process.

Attempts to contact Chad Beus of Mountain Shores for comment were unsuccessful.

While the annexation request was rejected 313-to-88, Draper predicted the project will eventually be built in the adjoining unincorporated area, and the city will have to cope with the traffic it will generate. Genola won't receive any property-tax revenue from the new residents who are putting wear and tear on the streets, nor will the developer's promise to help build new water tanks for the community be realized, Draper said.

Greenwood said it appeared that the developer wanted to take advantage of Genola's zoning that allows one home on two acres, as opposed to the five-acre lot size in the unincorporated area.

dmeyers@sltrib.com