Opinion ID: 2524049
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: ¶ 1 This case arises from a petition filed by appellants, David C. and Dixie Harvey (the Harveys), seeking disconnection of their land from Cedar Hills City. After this petition was filed in August 2001, but before the district court granted summary judgment in favor of Cedar Hills in June 2008, the legislature amended certain sections of the Utah Code that relate to the standards for granting disconnection (the 2003 amendments). [1] The district court determined that disconnection was prohibited under both versions of the disconnection statute because it found the two versions identical with regard to what it believed to be the single dispositive issue: that disconnection would form an unincorporated island. In this appeal, we must determine whether the district court erred in this determination. To resolve that issue, we must decide (1) which version of the disconnection statute applies to the Harveys' petition; and (2) whether, under the correct version of the law, the district court erred in dismissing the petition based solely on the fact that disconnection would result in an island of unincorporated land. ¶ 2 We hold that because the 2003 amendments substantively modified the criteria for disconnection the 2001 version of the disconnection statute (2001 statute) applies in this case. We further hold that disconnection under the 2001 statute is permissible, even if it results in an island of unincorporated land, if the district court determines that disconnection will not materially increase the burdens borne by the municipality. Because the district court failed to consider whether disconnection of the Harveys' land would materially increase the burdens on Cedar Hills, it erred in granting summary judgment. We therefore reverse the judgment of the district court and remand so that the court may determine the overall impact of disconnection.