Case Summaries

Utah Court of Appeals (June 21, 2024) 2024 UT App 88 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals ruled that a jury properly found that a landowner had not intended to convey water shares together when the land was sold. This case reiterates the important point that Utah law has long drawn a distinction between water...

Utah Court of Appeals 2024 UT App 83 (May 31, 2024) (click for full text of opinion) In remanding the district court ’s dismissal of a property owner’s challenge of a rezone denial, the Utah Court of Appeals found that the district court misconstrued state law provisions that were applicable only to judicial review of administrative decisions, and not legislative...

Utah Court of Appeals 2024 UT App 73 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals upheld a judgment establishing an implied easement in favor of commercial access across residential property. 440 North SF, LLC, purchased residential property in Provo that backs up to commercial property owned by Vista Heights Investments, LLC, and used as a diamond...

Utah Court of Appeals  2024 UT App 60 (click for full text of opinion)  The Utah Court of Appeals upheld a quiet title decision in favor of a landowner who sought to restrict access to their land against claims that a public road or prescriptive easement had been established. In 2016, S and W Hunting Ranch (S&W) purchased a property...

United States Supreme Court 601 U.S. ____ (2024) (click for full text of opinion) The United States Supreme Court held that its judicial test for the constitutionality of development exactions, known as the Nollan/Dolan rough proportionality test, applies to legislative exactions that result from an application of generally applicable ordinances to a development. George Sheetz, a property owner in California,...

Utah Court of Appeals 2024 UT App 53 (click for full text) The Utah Court of Appeals held that a city’s appeal challenging a property owner’s easement to access a city street was rendered moot when the city later issued a permit for a curb cut on the property. Paul Bywater, a property owner in Brigham City, maintained access to...

Utah Court of Appeals 2024 UT App 50 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals held that St. George’s ordinance prohibiting the operation of a retail tobacco business within the city did not conflict with state statute. M. Squared Enterprises, Inc. applied for a permit to operate a retail tobacco business in St. George City. The...

Utah Court of Appeals 2024 UT App 37 (Click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals held that a landowner could not claim title to a disputed portion of property through boundary by acquiescence based upon the actions of a predecessor, as it could not show that the predecessor had included the disputed portion in its conveyance...

Utah Court of Appeals 2024 UT App 35 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals reversed a decision by the district court that a developer could not relocate a utility easement taken by eminent domain. 3 Dimensional Contractors, Inc. and Benzer Development Solutions (collectively known as Benzer) applied for approval of its development, Zions Gate Estates,...

Utah Court of Appeals 2024 Ut App 23 (click for full text of opinion) The Utah Court of Appeals ruled that the district court properly dismissed an equal protections claim arising from a denial of an applicant’s rezone request to operate a landfill.  Moulding Investments sought a rezone of 225 acres of unzoned land to the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)...