Case Summaries

New Case Summary – Metropolitan Water District v. Sorf

2023 UT App 146 (Dec 7, 2023) (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals refused to adopt a bright-line legal rule that the placement of any permanent structure inside an easement of definite dimensions conveyed by grant is unreasonable as a matter of law. The Metropolitan Water District is a governmental entity that acquired–by warranty deed–an...
December 18, 2023

New Case Summary – Park City Premier Properties v. Silver Summit

2023 UT App 121 (October 5, 2023) (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals reversed a district court ruling interpreting Weber County Code as requiring a particular developer to provide secondary water to subdivision lots in addition to culinary water. After lot owners became dissatisfied with the amount of water they were allowed to use from...
December 7, 2023

New Case Summary – SRB Investment v. Spencer (SRB II)

Utah Court of Appeals, 2023 UT App 120 (October 5, 2023) (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court did not exceed remand instructions by the Utah Supreme Court in ruling that a servient estate landowner had only the right to make “reasonable, minor changes” to the location of a prescriptive easement across...
November 28, 2023

New Case Summary – C-B-K Ranch, LLC v. Thomas

Utah Court of Appeals 2023 UT App 110 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals remanded a prescriptive easement case back to the district court, holding that the lower court applied the wrong legal standards in concluding that the easement holder had no right to replace a defective metal swing gate with an electronic gate. C-B-K...
September 25, 2023

New Case Summary – Bermes v. Summit County

Utah Court of Appeals 2023 UT App 94 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals upheld the County’s denial of a homeowner’s requested special exception to ridgeline disturbance limits to build an additional accessory building on the same lot as his residence.  The county’s hillside stewardship zone, applicable to the property, provides a site grading provision...
August 24, 2023

New Case Summary – Six Blue Bison v. Alpine City

Utah Court of Appeals 2023 UT App 89 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals upheld the City’s denial of a subdivision plat amendment to convert a private driveway to a public cul-de-sac with a non-public emergency access to proposed development in a neighboring city. Blue Bison owns the Summit Pointe Subdivision located in Alpine City,...
August 17, 2023

New Case Summary – Tyler v. Hennepin County

Supreme Court of the United States 598 U.S. ____ (2023) (May 25, 2023) (click for full text of opinion) The U.S. Supreme Court held that a claim under the Takings Clause had been presented where a Minnesota county seized a condo to sell for unpaid real estate taxes and retained the excess value over the owed tax debt for itself.  ...
May 25, 2023

New Case Summary – Utah Stream Access Coalition v. VR Acquisitions (USAC II)

Utah Supreme Court 2023 UT 9 (click for full text of opinion) May 18, 2023 *Prior history, Utah Stream Access Coalition v. VR Acquisitions (USAC I), 2019 UT 7 The Utah Supreme Court definitively settled a longstanding dispute regarding public access to riverbeds by determining that there is no constitutional protection for the public’s right to touch privately owned streambeds...
May 22, 2023

New Case Summary – Larson v. Pleasant Grove City

Utah Supreme Court 2023 UT 2 (Click for text of opinion) The Utah Supreme Court reversed a district court determination that Pleasant Grove City’s Transportation Utility Fee (TUF) was an illegal tax, concluding that its purpose qualified it as a service fee, but remanded to determine whether the fee was reasonable.  To address deteriorating roads, Pleasant Grove City adopted an...
March 2, 2023

New Case Summary – Northern Monticello Alliance v. San Juan County (NMA II)

Utah Court of Appeals 2023 UT App 18 (click for full text of opinion) After several appeals on procedural issues and on remand from the Utah Supreme Court in NMA I, The Utah Court of Appeals held that the initial Planning Commission decision not to revoke a conditional use permit was arbitrary and capricious because it made no written findings,...
February 21, 2023