Iron County Commission eyeing industrial area near airport as location for new jail, sheriff’s complex

Written by Jeff Richards
March 11, 2023
Composite image, with background photo showing proposed site of Iron County Jail and Sheriff's Office complex in Cedar City, Utah, taken by Jeff Richards on March 6, 2023, and inset map showing one possible site plan concept, courtesy of Iron County Clerk's Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Iron County Commissioners, nearing a decision on where to build a new county jail and sheriff’s complex, say that a 33.5-acre parcel in an industrial area to the south of Cedar City Regional Airport appears to meet all the target criteria.

Site plan concept map for proposed site of Iron County Jail and Sheriff’s Office complex in Cedar City, Utah, March 2023 | Image courtesy of Iron County Clerk’s Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

“This one literally ticks off all the boxes,” Commissioner Mike Bleak said of the proposed site during a recent public town hall meeting held on the Southern Utah University campus. 

“Seriously, in this last year, this is a weekly if not daily conversation,” Bleak said. “On some level, we’ve met and met and met and met and met, and really feel like we’ve got a location that works for not only Iron County, but (for) … our other law enforcement partners.”

As previously reported, the Iron County Commission had voted unanimously to move forward on a piece of property in the northeast portion of Cedar City last March. That decision was met with opposition from residents living in the nearby Fiddler’s Canyon area, which is already home to the current Iron County Jail and sheriff’s office complex. 

The commissioners dropped plans for that site as they continued to explore other options, Bleak noted on Feb. 23. The meeting was held just over one year after another town hall, followed by an open house at Festival Hall a couple weeks after that.

“We’ve had numerous others,” Bleak told the approximately 30 people in attendance.

Iron County Commissioner Mike Bleak speaks about proposed site for County Jail and Sheriff’s Office complex, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 23, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“For probably the last year and a half, we have spent a lot of time and a lot of effort in trying to identify proper sites for this complex,” he said, “And we’ve had a ton of public input.”

“It was interesting, because we’d find a site and we’d think, ‘Okay, this looks like it’s going to be a good option,’” Bleak continued. “And we’d start down the road on that. And then we’d run into some hurdles. And then at that point, another site would open up that wasn’t available to us in the beginning. And we would say, ‘Okay, well, you know what this looks like a better option anyway.”

“That happened at least three times,” Bleak noted. Then, another site that he said “basically meets all of our wish list” came into play.

That site under consideration is a vacant parcel located at approximately 2600 West and 600 North, in the industrial park located to the south of Cedar City Regional Airport.

“A lot of our feedback over the last year has been, ‘You guys need to put it in an industrial area,’” Bleak said. “So we’ve found one smack in the middle of an industrial area, that’s level.”

Bleak also noted that the piece of property lies within unincorporated Iron County. 

“It’s not in the city,” he said. “We will have to work with the city on utilities and things like that.” 

Bleak said that the commissioners had already made an offer on the property, which has been accepted.

“We’re still going through that process, so at this point, it would be not only inappropriate, but really illegal for us to talk about the terms of that offer, any numbers, anything like that,” he said, adding, “We anticipate a closing date, around the end of March. At that point in time, it will be appropriate for us to make all of that public.”

“We don’t anticipate any problems,” Bleak added, noting that soil surveys and other preliminary work has been taking place. “We’re working through all of that, so that once we own the property, we can move forward fairly quickly.”

Public hearing notice for proposed Iron County Jail and Sheriff’s Office complex in Cedar City, Utah, scheduled for March 13, 2023 in Parowan, Utah. | Image courtesy of Iron County Clerk’s Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

Members of the public wanting to comment or provide input about the site under consideration will have an opportunity to do so at a public hearing during the Iron County Commission’s next regular meeting on Monday, March 13 at 10 a.m. at the courthouse in Parowan.

Comments may also be submitted via email to [email protected] or by calling the Iron County Clerk’s Office at 435-327-0977.

During the commission’s Feb. 27 meeting, Iron County Clerk Jon Whittaker commended the commissioners for their ongoing efforts to solicit public input, even when it’s not legally required to do so.

“This is an executive decision,” he said. “This could have been done in just an agenda item and that’s it.”

“It’s not an easy thing to stick your neck out there,” Whittaker added. “I appreciate the commissioners being willing to do that.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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