This is especially true when lobbyists serve more than one master. The Utah League of Cities and Towns is learning that sometimes it is difficult to know which dance partner is cutting in.

That conundrum is bothering league officials in the aftermath of a new Utah law they championed that allows developers to incorporate their own municipalities with all the powers - such as zoning - that go with it.

The issue blossomed in the fall when an Arizona developer unveiled plans for a glitzy resort town in Wasatch County to be called Aspen. But other incorporations also remain in the works.

Two prominent lobbyists for the League of Cities and Towns who pushed for that new law have had business relationships with such developers. And that has led the organization to revisit its lobbying guidelines, according to board member and Salt Lake City Councilwoman Jill Remington Love.

"The board is concerned about perceived conflicts," she said. "We need to discuss what our policy is regarding outside employment of our lobbyists."

Full-time league lobbyist Lincoln Schurtz and part-time contract lobbyist Jodi Hoffman helped push the new law - HB466 - through the 2007 Legislature.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Mel Brown, R-Coalville, said he carried the legislation because the "League of Cities and Towns wanted it."

At the time, Schurtz also worked for Mustang Development Corp., which wants to incorporate the town of Hide Out on the eastern shores of the Jordanelle Reservoir in Wasatch County.

Schurtz registered last January with the lieutenant governor's office as a lobbyist for Mustang, although his name did not appear on the state list in November. The lieutenant governor's office later confirmed he had registered.

Schurtz again has officially registered as a lobbyist for Mustang for the 2008 session, but says he will not be lobbying for the developer.

"We just want to make sure there was full disclosure. But I will not be working for Mustang," he said. "[Also] please make clear I have no affiliation with Aspen."

Hoffman, who also lobbied for the bill, said at the time she was not working for the developer of the proposed town of Independence southeast of Heber City, also in Wasatch County.

She is, however, a business partner with Brown.

Since HB466 passed, Hoffman also has entered into a business relationship with Melvin McQuarrie and his Independence partners, who seek to incorporate about 10,000 acres.

Hoffman is not a registered lobbyist for either Independence or McQuarrie.

csmart@sltrib.com