If Utah Lake can't have islands, does it need an inland port?

2018 was a bumper year for bad legislation. 

The Utah Lake Restoration Act kicked off the islands project, and the Utah Inland Port Authority Act created a quasi-governmental agency to carve off city land and funnel taxpayer dollars for warehouse development.

Thankfully, the islands project is mostly dead, and local opposition has slowed the Inland Port in Salt Lake. The new director of the Inland Port Authority himself said, "There was some super sketchy crap going on at the inland port", earlier this year.

However, the Inland Port Authority is now trying another tactic. They are developing a constellation of nine satellite ports across the state. The most recent addition is right here in Utah County, and it cuts into the wetlands of the state's most beautiful water body, Utah Lake.

Screenshot from the Inland Port Authority's draft development plan.

As someone who lives in a house and depends on local business, I am not anti development. However, with our county growing so rapidly, we need to be really deliberate about how we grow. I love the idea of streamlining shipping and planning non-road transportation options. However, I am not convinced that this approach moves us in that direction. Indeed, I have yet to hear a cogent business or environmental case for this concept.

One business leader explained that all the inland port does is increase their profit margins by creating a tax haven. It creates an incentive to abandon their already existing warehouses and relocate to avoid taxes. While this lets the Port Authority claim "new" jobs and development, it is really just cannibalizing economic activity in the most inefficient, subsidized way. Looking at the conflicts and compromises the Inland Port Authority has created in Salt Lake and Tooele, I am highly skeptical we want a repeat in Utah County.

Here is an info sheet on the project, and here are two important events today where you can learn about what is going on and voice your opinion:

1. At 9:30, there is a press conference about the development hosted by Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment
2. At 10:00, there is the actual Utah Inland Port Authority meeting where this will be discussed. There will be a chance for 2-minute comments from the public. Here is the link to the agenda.

We learned from the islands battle how important it is for everyday citizens to be informed and involved in these development decisions. Thank you for taking the time to read up and speak up. If you are willing to strike up a conversation, you can find your legislators' contact information here.