CEDAR CITY — An unassuming dirt road in Cedar City is the center of an ongoing conflict between the city and the federal government.

Master-planned for approximately 10 years as a major road, 100 East is unpaved from 675 North until it ends abruptly at a parking lot belonging to the U.S. Forest Service.

The lot was paved over the planned project site when the building was constructed, Cedar City Mayor Garth Green said at the Feb. 1 city council meeting. The city is now interested in completing the road.

The agency has been working with the city and the Bureau of Land Management since 2018 — about a year before the building’s construction, forest supervisor Kevin Wright told Cedar City News.

The property in question is owned by the U.S. government and jointly administered by the Forest Service and the BLM, Wright said. Both agencies are working with the city to find a resolution, as the proposed road extension could impact existing federal infrastructure.

While the process is ongoing, there are “plenty of options” on the table, Wright said, adding that the Forest Service understands the city’s need to expand its infrastructure as it grows and is “happy and willing” to work toward a solution that meets the needs of all involved.

Green said he wrote letters to U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee and Congressman Chris Stewart to “start the process down from the top,” which could take several years. The city has not yet received a response.

“I wasn’t really very happy with that,” he said. “And so I ordered that (100 East) — that gate — be closed.”

The city installed barricades across the road to block access to the parking lot on the south side of the Forest Service’s property, Green said, adding that he was advised to have the City Council approve this decision.

State law requires that landowners have reasonable access to their property but that the right doesn’t include a say in how traffic enters the property or the direction from which it comes, city attorney Tyler Romeril said.

“I believe what we’re doing is justified by law,” he said.

However, the city is still reviewing laws that could impact the use of barriers on the road, Romeril said via email. And the City Council has not yet ratified the roadblock.

While the barriers are in place at 100 East, the Forest Service has maintained access to the property from Main Street, Wright said.

When the Forest Service was in the early planning stages for the building and conducting a feasibility study on the project. Councilman R. Scott Phillips said he submitted comments, including information about the master-planned road.

“I made that one of my comments clearly in the study I submitted, so it isn’t like — as the mayor indicated, this has been very clear,” he said. “I support these efforts and I think we’re fully right in doing this.”

To “make noise,” Green proposed that the city initiate the “Save the Driving Range” campaign on Feb. 15, encouraging Cedar City residents to contact Wright about the road.

He expressed concern that if the issue remains unresolved, the city would potentially need to build the road through a portion of the Cedar Ridge Golf Course.

“The last thing I want is to ruin our driving range,” he wrote in a flier included in the council packet. “The federal government must be accountable for this huge error on their part and immediately make the city whole.”

Later, Green told Cedar City News that he’s no longer interested in beginning a campaign to contact Wright, but said that could change should the Forest Service “slow-walk” solutions.

“I like to poke the bear because sometimes you have to get the bear’s attention,” he said. “And if you don’t get the bear’s attention, you don’t get anything done.”

The city requires that all developers provide roads, curbs, sidewalks and other infrastructure as a condition for developing land, the flier states.

“They are the federal government and think they can ignore Cedar City’s long-established rules,” the document reads, adding, “No developer gets away with that even though they might wish to at times.”

Administratively, Wright said it would be “extremely difficult” for the Forest Service to pay for a road that benefits the city rather than the federal government. Additionally, there are rules and restrictions the agency must follow when spending appropriated dollars.

“It wouldn’t be within our parameters to spend federal taxpayer dollars on a municipal road,” he said, adding that should the city seek a legislative solution, it is possible for the U.S. Congress to appropriate funds for that purpose.

BLM’s Color Country District Manager Gloria Tibbetts said the BLM is “often an afterthought” regarding the site, despite occupying the property for over 80 years — “longer than any other agency.”

However, the bureau is a “team player” and has reduced its footprint on the land to accommodate other agencies, Tibbetts said.

“The BLM sees Cedar City’s planned road as yet another opportunity to serve the public interest if we can collectively work through the financial and design challenges to find a mutually beneficial solution — even if it means that the BLM must vacate the site completely.”

Because Tibbetts became the district manager in 2021, the “bulk of the long and complicated history regarding this site predates (her),” she said. But she and her team “stand ready to work together” with the city and the Forest Service.

In this spirit, she met with Green and Wright to discuss eight potential solutions and has been exploring additional options.

“All of these solutions require the good faith involvement of the BLM, Forest Service and the city,” she said.

Any approach chosen “must comply with applicable laws and regulations,” Jacqueline Russell, BLM Color Country District’s public affairs specialist, wrote in an email.

For instance, the Forest Service proposed executing a land exchange, selling the property or granting a road easement through the existing parking lot east of the building, which would require the agency to find an alternate location for the lot, Wright said.

The city could also procure a right of way from the BLM to extend the road, then later apply for a Recreation and Public Purposes lease, Russell wrote.

Should the city gain a right of way through the BLM’s property, Tibbetts said the remaining land could be used for future recreation facilities, sold to the city at fair market value or sold to a private buyer.

“We absolutely want to be a partner in resolving this issue and ensuring that we are not a literal roadblock for 100 East,” she said.

Additionally, Russell said the right of way and lease agreement for the remaining acreage could be pursued simultaneously. The lease would require submitting a development plan “that shows the non-road area being used only for a qualifying recreation or public use.”

Once the BLM verifies that appropriate uses have been established in the plan, the agency could convey the land to Cedar City at the reduced rates available under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act.

“There is a reversionary interest to the BLM,” Russell wrote. “If Cedar City proposed to change the uses of the parcel at any point in the future, officials would need to coordinate with the BLM to ensure the new uses still meet the criteria for recreational or public purpose use and seek BLM’s approval.”

The time frame varies depending on the solution, Tibbetts said. For instance, a right of way through federal land would likely be approved more quickly than a land sale or exchange.

“They purposefully make disposal of federal property complicated and a long process because it is protected for the public interest,” she said.

While the two federal agencies have proposed various solutions, Green said each requires the city to “do the work.”

“There’s things that you can do that will solve this problem,” he said. “And I say to them, ‘Well, you should do it.’”

Councilmember Terri Hartley told Tibbetts that she appreciated the BLM compiling potential solutions.

“I think there are some great options in there that I would like to see us pursue,” she said.

The BLM has a “long history of effective collaboration with Cedar City for numerous recreation, infrastructure, fire prevention, law enforcement and other efforts,” Tibbetts said via email.

“We will continue to strive to have an excellent working relationship while evaluating potential challenges and providing an opportunity for public input to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome that makes an enduring and positive contribution to the community,” she wrote.

To watch the initial discussion from Feb. 1, click here. Those interested in viewing the Feb. 15 meeting can do so on the City Council’s YouTube channel.

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