Hurricane » By a unanimous vote, the Hurricane City Council has rejected a bid by Our World Family LLC to build a mammoth theme park and educational resort in southern Utah.

The Spectrum reported Friday that the apparent sticking point for the council during its Thursday night meeting was that pursuing the proposal would too expensive for taxpayers.

"We would have to staff up and bring in professional help [consultants] from the outside," said Councilman Dean McNeil, before joining four other council members in voting down the plan for the 2,000-acre development. "We'll either have to modify ordinances, grant waivers -- which I don't favor -- or create new ordinances."

At its proposed size, the park-resort would have dwarfed Disneyland, which covers less than 100 acres. Plans for the development included a private university, hotel, indoor ski resort, amusement park and other facilities.

Council members also doubted developers claims that the resort-park would draw 6 million visitors a year. Nearby Zion National Park attracts 2.7 million.

Our World Family President Bill Boulter, a St. George resident, acknowledged proponents were "very distraught" by the vote. "We're still 100 percent convinced it's a great opportunity for the children of this community. The biggest issue we're running into is misinformation," he told the Spectrum ."


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