Regarding the proposal to create islands in Utah Lake for the purposes of real estate development, it may be of interest that, when Lake Restoration Solutions, LLC, filed its application for registration in Utah, it listed neither its manager nor any of its members on the document (in fairness, the filed form contains spaces for this information, but also states that disclosure is “optional.”) Then, in a subsequent listing of “registered principals,” LRS names a “manager” and “registered agent,” but did not disclose the names of any members of the LLC. In all states, no LLC can be validly formed without having at least one member – so presumably such a member exists yet apparently remains unidentified (the LLC was formed in Delaware, which makes accessing the formation document problematic).
Of greater interest is that LRS proposed a “land exchange” with the state of Utah, pursuant to which, according to LRS, “[s]ome of the new real estate will remain open to the public while a portion will be exchanged to generate revenues to help pay for the costs of restoration activities.” This exchange approach was initially approved by the Utah Department of Natural Resources in a letter to LRS on May 2, 2018; however, in a lengthy decision dated Oct. 27, 2022, the department outright canceled the application of LRS to engage in the exchange as part of its “restoration solutions.” One reason the department cited as justifying the cancellation was that the properties to be exchanged were not clearly identified – but other significant concerns of the DNR were also set forth in the department’s rejection of the application. Yet, without such an exchange agreement, it is difficult to see how this project can go forward.
So, stay tuned, folks. This conundrum is about to get very interesting indeed, and will no doubt involve some new laws passed by our indubitable Utah Legislature to make it all happen.
Thomas N. Thompson, Salt Lake City
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible