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After a bitter, years-long fight with big-money developers, the residents of a rural county in Utah will now have a say on whether they want a massive ski resort in their tiny town.
Five residents of Morgan County won a court battle last week over their application for a referendum on the resort, Wasatch Peaks Ranch, which would span 11,000 acres and cost $500,000 a year for membership. The developers—a group of wealthy, anonymous investors—challenged the petition when it was filed in 2019, arguing it was improperly notarized and submitted five minutes past the deadline.
On Friday, Second Judicial District Court Judge Noel S. Hyde ruled in favor of the residents, ruling that there was “insufficient evidence to establish that the application was untimely” and that the arguments regarding the notarization were unpersuasive. The decision allows the petitioners to start collecting the signatures needed to get the referendum on the ballot.