The Ashley Springs Protection zone has been established to protect the geologically and environmentally sensitive area located within the zone, to avoid pollution or disruption of water sources, and to protect other health and welfare factors.

Ashley Springs is essentially the sole source of drinking water for the more than twenty thousand (20,000) residents of Ashley Valley (except for limited use of water in Red Fleet Reservoir).

Uintah County, with the assistance of Utah Geologic Survey and the United States Geologic Survey, has proactively instigated various studies to better understand the Ashley Springs system. In the interim, Uintah County finds that it is necessary to adopt this chapter in its current form to insure the Ashley Springs system is sufficiently protected. Of course, as independent scientifically based studies are completed this chapter may be relaxed or strengthened.

Uintah County has been granted authority to exercise broad and expansive powers under Title 17 of the Utah State Code, including U.C.A. § 17-50-302, and common law that are reasonably related to the safety, health, morals, and welfare of county inhabitants, except as limited or prohibited by statute. Further, Uintah County has adopted a comprehensive, long-range general plan that addresses in various chapters the need to protect and enhance water resources. Additionally, counties are also empowered to "provide for the development of the county's mineral, water, manpower, industrial, historical, cultural, and other resources" (U.C.A. § 17-50-316). And, counties are allowed to protect historical areas and sites and the Ashley Springs system has served as a historical source of water for the settlers of Ashley Valley since the area was homesteaded.

The legislative body of Uintah County determines that protecting the public drinking water sources located in the Ashley Springs drainage area of Uintah County will promote the health, safety, and welfare of the general public.

This chapter is adopted pursuant to the county's general statutory and police powers, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the County Land Use Management Act. This chapter applies to all lands within the Ashley Springs Protection zone as designated on the Uintah County Zoning Map duly amended under Section 17.24.020, regardless of owner, except as expressly and strictly limited or prohibited by state or federal law.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms, phrases, words, and their derivatives are defined as follows:

"Blasting" means the use of explosives and blasting agents to loosen, penetrate, move, or shatter masses of solid materials.

"Board" means the drinking water board appointed under U.C.A. § 19-4-103 (as amended).

"Contaminant" means a physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water.

"Excavation and/or mining" includes, but is not limited to,

1.

Any process or method of digging, excavating, mining, drilling for production blasting, production blasting, tunneling, dredging, stripping, or removing metals, minerals, or materials from the land surface or underground;

2.

The processing, washing, cleaning, screening, filtering, sorting, stockpiling, and storage of all excavated or mined metals, minerals and materials; and

3.

The removal of all excavated and mined metals, minerals, and materials.

The terms "excavation" and "mining" apply to all activity occurring at excavation or mining sites, including sites identified as quarries, gravel, rock crushers and sand pits. The terms excavation and mining do not include exploratory activities as set forth below.

"Exploratory activities" includes exploratory seismic operations; drilling to evaluate underground strata and/or groundwater; trenching to extract sampling materials; activities authorized by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining under a permit to commence exploration activities; and other related exploratory activities.

"Exploratory blasting" means the use of explosives authorized by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining for the limited purpose of proceeding under a duly authorized permit to commence exploration activities.

"Exploratory seismic operations" means exploratory blasting or other activities that cause similar seismic disturbance for the purpose of evaluating the underground strata including the location and integrity of underground water systems.

"Groundwater source" means an underground opening from or through which groundwater flows or is pumped from a subsurface water-bearing formation. This includes:

1.

A well;

2.

A spring;

3.

A tunnel; or

4.

An adit.

"Public water system" means:

1.

A system providing water for human consumption and other domestic uses that:

a.

Has at least fifteen (15) service connections; or

b.

Serves an average of twenty-five (25) individuals daily for at least sixty (60) days of the year.

2.

"Public water system" includes:

a.

A collection, treatment, storage, or distribution facility under the control of the operator and used primarily in connection with the system; and

b.

A collection, pretreatment, or storage facility used primarily in connection with the system but not under the operator's control.

"Retail water supplier" means a person or entity that supplies water for human consumption and other domestic uses to an end user and has more than five hundred (500) service connections.

"Supplier" means a person who owns or operates a public water system.

"Wholesale water supplier" means a person that provides most of that person's water to a retail water supplier.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

The following buildings, structures, and uses of land are permitted within the Ashley Springs Protection zone:

A.

Agriculture and buildings incidental to the use of the land for agricultural purposes;

B.

Water reservoirs with less than three acres of surface area and other water facilities incidental to the use of the land for agricultural purposes;

C.

The raising and grazing of animals and fowl, including the supplementary or full feeding of such animals and fowl, as follows:

1.

Not more than one animal unit per one-fourth acre are permitted;

2.

No animal rights exist on parcels that contain less than one-half acre; and

3.

All animals and facilities for their care and keeping shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the State of Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Agriculture and Food.

D.

Barns, corrals, pens, coops, and feed storage buildings for the keeping of animals and fowl, provided such structures for the care and keeping of livestock and fowl are located at least one hundred (100) feet in distance from any adjoining existing dwelling, public, or semipublic building on an adjoining parcel of land;

E.

One- and two-family dwellings and buildings accessory thereto;

F.

Residential facilities for the elderly in accordance with Utah Code;

G.

Residential facilities for persons with a disability in accordance with Utah Code Annotated, Titles 62A-2 and 26-21;

H.

Accessory dwelling units may be permitted in accordance with all associated zoning regulations outlined in 17.33.020(34).

I.

Internal accessory dwelling units (IADU) may be permitted in accordance with all associated zoning regulations outlined in 17.33.020(35).

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017; Ord. No. 12-09-2019, O1, § 5, 12-9-2019; Ord. No. 04-04-2022, O1, § 5, 4-4-2022)

The following are conditional uses, subject to Chapter 17.08 of this title, in the Ashley Springs Protection zone:

A.

Kennels;

B.

Commercial radio, television, and telephone transmitter facilities;

C.

Public or private utility buildings and facilities;

D.

Churches, parks and golf courses, plant nurseries, and veterinary hospitals;

E.

Home occupations;

F.

Planned unit developments;

G.

Subject to Section 17.24.070 below, and in accordance with Section 17.33.010, including:

1.

Oil and gas wells;

2.

Excavation and/or mining;

3.

Exploratory activities;

4.

Exploratory blasting; and

5.

Exploratory seismic operations.

H.

Forest product industries and building related thereto.

I.

Water wells or other similar boring activities.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

Anything that is not expressly permitted or conditionally authorized by this chapter is prohibited in this zone.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

A.

Planned Unit Developments. The overall density shall not exceed one dwelling unit per five acres. Dwelling units may be clustered, provided that each dwelling unit has at least two acres and is a minimum of two hundred feet (200) in width and has at least a fifty-foot front setback line.

B.

Other Residential Dwellings. All residential dwellings other than planned unit developments shall have a minimum lot size of five acres, a minimum of two hundred fifty (250) feet of frontage on a public road, as measured at the fifty-foot front setback line.

C.

Road Setbacks. Subsections A. and B. of this section notwithstanding, no building shall be located less than eighty (80) feet from the centerline of the road.

D.

Side and Rear Setbacks. All dwellings and other buildings shall be set back from the side property line a distance of at least ten feet and from the rear property line at least thirty (30) feet. The minimum side setback for accessory buildings shall be the same as for main buildings, except that no side setback shall be required for accessory buildings located twelve (12) feet or more in back of the dwelling. Accessory buildings shall be set back at least one foot from the rear property line.

E.

Corner lots shall have two thirty-foot front setbacks from each of the frontages and two ten-foot side setbacks opposite the frontages.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

A.

All dwellings shall be supplied with approved potable water in accordance with applicable health and building codes.

B.

All lots shall be kept free of refuse and debris.

C.

Thirty (30) days' advance written notification for exploratory activities shall be provided to the Uintah County Commission, Ashley Valley Water Conservancy District, and Central Utah Water Conservancy District. Written notification shall contain the following information:

1.

Name of the proponent;

2.

Address of the proponent;

3.

Type of explosives or other geophysical methods (including depth and location) of exploration to be used, and the purposes therefore;

4.

Dates of proposed seismic operations; and

5.

A copy of the permit or license under which the exploratory activities will be conducted.

Failure to comply with this chapter will be grounds to revoke a business license as provided under Title 5, Chapter 5.04 of this Code.

D.

Excavation and/or mining, oil and gas wells, water wells or other similar boring activities, and exploratory activities may be detrimental to the Ashley Springs system. The proponent of any such activity within this zone will have the burden to provide sufficient evidence to the satisfaction of the county legislative body that the proposed activity will not pollute, clog, alter, impair, or diminish water flow through the Ashley Springs system.

E.

Drinking water source protection zone within the Ashley Springs Protection zone.

1.

This zone shall apply to all land within a one-hundred-foot radius from the groundwater source and a two-hundred-fifty-day groundwater time of travel to the groundwater source if the supplier calculates the time of travel in the public water system's drinking water source protection plan in accordance with board rules.

2.

Hazardous or toxic substances and contaminant may not be stored, handled, used, or produced, or created in any manner where such substance can enter the drinking water source.

3.

This chapter authorizes a retail water supplier or wholesale water supplier to seek enforcement of the chapter provision required by Section 17.24.070E. in a district court located within the county or municipality if the county or municipality:

a.

Notifies the retail water supplier or wholesale water supplier within ten days of receiving notice of a violation of the ordinance that the county or municipality will not seek enforcement of the ordinance [this chapter]; or

b.

Does not seek enforcement within two days of a notice of violation of the ordinance when the violation may cause irreparable harm to the groundwater source.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

The zone codified in this chapter represents the area currently known to the county as being reasonably associated with the Ashley Springs system, and should not be construed to include all possible areas associated with the Ashley Springs system. This chapter and associated maps may be amended pursuant to applicable laws as new information becomes available. The provisions of this chapter do not in any way assure or imply that areas outside its boundaries will be free from the possible adverse effects of excavation and/or mining on the Ashley Springs system. This chapter shall not create liability on the part of the county, any officer or employee thereof for any damages from authorized uses that result from reliance on this chapter or any administrative requirement or decision lawfully made hereunder.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

In cases of conflict between the provisions of existing zoning classifications, building codes, subdivision ordinances, or any other ordinance of the county and the Ashley Springs Protection zone codified in this chapter, the most restrictive provision shall apply.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

Should any section, clause, provision, or portion of this chapter be adjudged unconstitutional or invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable by a final order of a court of competent jurisdiction, including all applicable appeals, the remainder of this chapter shall remain in full force and effect.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)

Any party aggrieved by a decision made in accordance with this chapter shall follow the procedure concerning appeals as outlined in Chapter 17.13 of this title.

(Ord. No. 12-18-2017, O1, § 3, 12-18-2017)