In an attempt to make the small northern Utah town of Hyde Park more “economically viable,” its mayor is looking to bring the Utah Inland Port Authority to Cache County.
Mayor Bryan Cox presented the idea at the Cache County Council meeting Tuesday, saying the port would create much-needed local job opportunities in the rural town.
“We’re trying to have places where our kids could work instead of leaving the valley,” Cox said, “and we think there’s an opportunity for us, so it’s something we need to explore.”
The Hyde Park City Council has already voted to continue discussions with the Utah Inland Port Authority. However, because part of the proposed port would fall in unincorporated Cache County, near the north end of the Logan-Cache Airport, the county must be the entity to request the port’s development in the area. No official requests or decisions have been made regarding the port yet, but it is slated for discussion at upcoming county meetings.
If it moves forward, the proposed project would join Utah Inland Port locations throughout the state, including in Salt Lake, Box Elder and Weber counties. The UIPA was created to develop the northwest part of Salt Lake City into an international port, meant to streamline trade for landlocked states like Utah.
The UIPA has faced criticism in locations where ports have been planned, particularly from those concerned about environmental impacts. Some environmentalists argue the authority is causing wetland destruction throughout the Great Salt Lake Basin. A group of environmental organizations recently formed a coalition called Stop the Polluting Port to halt the development of more inland ports.
Cox said there are wetlands inside some of the project zones being considered in Hyde Park.
In recent years, the UIPA expanded its vision to include smaller “mini-ports” across the state that are often tied to broader economic development goals. The authority also wields the power to claim a portion of future tax revenue from developed areas and offer tax incentives to developers.
Cox said Hyde Park has the potential to become an industrial hub that could generate jobs and boost the local economy. While bringing an inland port to the valley is one of the options the city is considering, it is not the only one, he said.
“Don’t think that we’re throwing our hats all in the inland port,” Cox said.
However, managing population growth alongside swelling housing demands, he said, is a challenge.
“We have to have that industrial area,” he said. “This is how we’re trying to leverage all of the resources we have.”