-- CROSSING THE LINE

The following article, written by Dave Knecht, was sent to :

http://www.utahpolitics.org/

Crossing the Line

When does a City Council member, who is also a
Developer, cross the line?

When Mr. Steve Turley, Provo City-Wide Councilman, ran
for office he wanted to be know as a businessman
rather than a budding developer.
As Mr. Turley took office we were in the midst of a 5
year review/update of our cities General Plan. Steve
became vocal and animated about how our Plan was too
specific and that the land use boundaries should not
follow property lines, but should be general and
fuzzy. He even climbed on top of our work table to
try and make his points.
One area he focused on was our North East bench by
Provo Canyon. It is steep and environmentally
sensitive. He lobbied us to change the General Plan
to allow more development. He even advocated the City
building a new road to access the next level up the
hillside.
At the time it seemed odd, but not self serving or
otherwise a conflict of interest. Although we later
learned of his owning property in this same area.
http://ims2.co.utah.ut.us/website/realtime%20parcel/realtimegis.asp?left=1598086.71504458&bottom=7280312.16382093&right=1598336.30041452&top=7280529.1945774&cmd=setscale&clickx=0&clicky=0&img=0&dat=7%2F24%2F2007&rds=1&scl=400&par=200140038&buf=0&cty=Utah+County&qtr=0&sec=1&twn=3&rng=3W
Since I left the Council more facts have come to light
about his involvement in trying to develop this part
of Provo. In particular his interest in entering into
a joint development agreement with Anderson
Developments.
http://www.andersondevelopmentonline.com/blog/?p=62

This is not the only incident that bothers me.
Steve, along with one of his associates, tried to get
a Springville body shop owner to de-annex from
Springville so that Provo's boundary would then extend
all the way to the corner of a busy intersection of
State Street. This would have allowed all the
adjacent property to redevelop, including Steve's
friends property.
The body shop owner, a friend of mine, could not see
how it was in his best interest to sell out/redevelop
his family business just so the vacant property next
door could be developed.
While what Steve was pushing for would have benefited
his friend, it would also have required Provo to
change it's Annexation Policy, General Plan and
Zoning, all of which must be approved by the City
Council.

I believe Mr. Turley would have done well to follow
our Mayor's example. Mayor Billing has put the
properties he could develop into a blind trust, and
our Mayor has not brought his own projects before the
Council as Mr. Turley has done.
See items E4 and E5
http://www.provo.org/downloads/council/7-19-05.pdf
(item E3 was also Mr. Turley's Realty company applying
to amend our General Plan.)

While it is fine to have different points of view
represented on the Council, it is not appropriate or
ethical when a Councilman/Developer mixes his personal
Business with his Politics.

This conflict of interest is just one of the reasons I
can't support Mr. Turley in his bid to be re-elected
to the Provo City Council this year.

Dave Knecht, Former City Wide Councilman Provo 2002-5