Cache County Council rezones 40 acres for tire recycling site, 6-1

The Cache County Council voted 6-1 on Oct. 27 to apply the county's Public Infrastructure overlay to 40 acres of farmland east of State Road 23, clearing the way for a local waste hauler to ask for a permit to build a tire-recycling and material-sorting site. ^[1][3]

Ordinance 2026-41 covers a parcel in the Agricultural (A10) zone on 3000 North, west of the Benson Marina. The overlay allows uses such as utility facilities, a public airport and solid waste facilities, each with a conditional use permit. Staff told the council the applicant intends a processing facility. The county's rule for solid waste facilities requires at least 40 acres, and the A10 zone caps lot coverage at 60%, which leaves about 24 acres that could be developed. The Planning Commission recommended approval 4-1 on Oct. 1; the staff report makes no recommendation. ^[2][3]

A representative of the applicant told the council the company is a local waste hauler and one of four permitted tire recyclers in Utah. The representative said the site would be fenced and anything that could blow away would be kept indoors. Staff said the nearest home is just under a mile south. Council Member Dave Erickson noted drainage areas and a high water table on the parcel, and staff said those would be handled in the conditional use permit, zoning clearance and building permit. Council Member Keegan Garrity cast the only no vote, saying he wanted to visit the site first and had not expected a vote that night. ^[3]

The council also rezoned two parcels beside the JBS Hyrum beef plant from agricultural to industrial: 7.54 acres under Ordinance 2026-42 and 24.86 acres under Ordinance 2026-43. Both passed 6-1, with Erickson opposed. He asked why the county was not waiting for Hyrum to annex the land first, since both parcels lie in the city's future annexation area. A representative of the applicants told the council Hyrum had put the parcels on its annexation map and then removed them, and that the city pointed the applicants to the county. The council also heard that Hyrum is already improving 4600 South, a county road, because of truck traffic. The Planning Commission had recommended both rezones 5-0. ^[2][3]

In a 7-0 vote the council approved Ordinance 2026-45, which creates an "animal processing facility" use for cutting, packaging, smoking, curing and jerky production of legally harvested wild game and livestock slaughtered elsewhere. The use is allowed in the A10, commercial and industrial zones with a conditional use permit. Under the ordinance a facility may not slaughter on site or buy, sell or distribute wild game meat, animals must be delivered by their owner or the owner's agent, and it must hold licenses from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. The Planning Commission recommended it 5-0. ^[2][3]

The council also set a Nov. 10 public hearing on Ordinance 2026-36, which would adjust salaries for elected and executive county officials. The county had not posted minutes of the Oct. 27 meeting as of Nov. 1; the vote counts above come from the meeting recording's transcript. ^[1][3]