Ivins • While three new Ivins City Council members may not see eye-to-eye with some past decisions rendered by elected officials in the southern Utah town, they don’t foresee those differences causing major contention.
In other words, none of them envision Ivins becoming like St. George, where fracases over drag shows, abortion, gun rights and other polarizing culture war issues have often divided the council and residents.
“I never would have thought [that] would happen in St. George … and I don’t suspect it will get that way in Ivins, either,” said council member Kevin Smith, one of three Ivins council newcomers along with Sharon Gillespie and Sharon Barton.
Much of the disagreement with past council decisions is focused on high-density housing such as townhomes and condominiums, which 70% of residents said they opposed in a 2022 survey. Moreover, the survey indicated, 81% of residents were against additional apartment complexes and other rentals.
Despite that opposition, the council in 2022 approved “The Retreat,” a 113-acre, resort-style development in southeast Ivins that includes residential homes and short-term condominium rentals. Gillespie and Barton were actively involved in an unsuccessful effort by the group Defenders of Greater Ivins (DOGI) to overturn the council’s decision, arguing Ivins officials failed to follow proper procedure.
DOGI appealed the council’s decision to the 5th District Court, where Judge Keith Barnes ruled in the city’s favor last July. Even so, Gillespie and Barton insist that the past is not necessarily a prologue. They both say they harbor no ill will against their current or previous council colleagues involved with the decision on The Retreat.
Now they are on the council, Gillespie and Barton have stepped away from DOGI to better focus on their municipal duties. Moreover, they have nothing but good to say about the mayor and their council colleagues. Barton, for example, said Mayor Chris Hart has been a “terrific mayor” and praises the past council.
“We have a tremendous team at city hall,” Barton said.
Gillespie also gives the mayor high marks.
“His service to this community has been amazing,” she said. “And no pun intended, but he has a great heart and he cares about Ivins. So I think we’ll work well together.”
For his part, Hart also doesn’t bear any grudges. He said the number of votes garnered by Gillespie and Barton, both of whom ran on a slow-the-growth campaign, shows they enjoy a high level of support. As for Kevin Smith, who is the CEO of the Tuacahn Center for the Arts, the mayor said he will bring business acumen and expertise as Ivins steps forward in its quest to become a major tourist destination.
“I’ll get along great with [them],” Hart predicted.
Still, neither the mayor nor the new council members picture themselves and their colleagues sitting under the lemon tree singing kumbaya. There will always be differences of opinion.
“Through all my years in office,” Hart said, “regardless of what position I thought was the right one, not every council member has always agreed with me or with each other. That will, no doubt, be the case going forward.”
