LOGAN – The ball, as they say, is now in the court of Megan Carollo and her neighbors on Canyon Road.
Publicly challenged by Carollo in August to provide documentation proving that the city had a 99-foot right-of-way on Canyon Road, city officials did just that with a survey revealed on Sept. 30.
Using references dating back to 1860, the document prepared by surveyors at J-U-B Engineers appears to substantiate the city’s claim to a 99-foot right of way on the thoroughfare.
That claim was certified by J-U-B surveyor David D. Strong, confirming that Logan maintains a 49.5-foot right of way measured from the road’s centerline.
Strong acknowledged that some maps, plots and document created after the establishment of Canyon Road do depict portions of the roadway with right-of-way widths at less than 99-feet. But those later references do not reduce, alter or extinguish the previously established 99-foot right-of-way documented in earlier surveys.
Under Utah law, a public right-of-way may be reduced only through a formal vacation or abandonment proceedings authorized by state statutes.
Since its original construction, Strong reported, Canyon Road has remained in continuous use and has never been abandoned or left unused for a significant period.
The still simmering controversy began on Aug. 18 when Carollo appeared at a meeting of the Logan Municipal Council to challenge city officials to produce documentation proving that the city has a 99-foot right-of-way on Canyon Road.
Begun in spring of this year, the Canyon Road Reconstruction Project focuses on the roadway, sidewalks and surrounding areas that are being redesigned in the wake of the First Dam Tank and Waterline Project.
The reconstruction effort – including the installation of a eight-foot sidewalk on the north side of Canyon Road — impacts the stretch of road from 600 East to approximately 1500 East (in the vicinity of Herm’s Inn).
Carollo backed up the demand for right-of-way documentation with a petition signed by more than 50 resident of the Island neighborhood, citing both the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 22 of the Utah Constitution.
That seemingly straightforward request became further complicated when Mayor Mark Anderson was obliged to officially recuse himself from decisions or advocacy that could represent a conflict of interest. Anderson was one of the property owners impacted by the ongoing reconstruction project on Canyon Road.
Carollo was unavailable for comment on Oct. 2, but is reportedly reviewing the provided documentation with her attorney and an outside surveyor.