City Near Provo

Provo's Councilman Developer: Questions of conflict

It is perfectly legal to be a developer in the same city in which one sits on the governing board. But conflicts of interest can arise for public officials when their duties collide with their personal business interests.

Former Mayor Lewis Billings wouldn't comment on specific issues for this article but said his feeling is that elected officials should put aside personal deal-making in a city in which they have oversight and make policy. Most city managers feel the same way, he said.

"I think controversies arise because people don't subscribe to that fairly long-standing, it-just-makes-sense practice," Billings said.

Provo Municipal Councilman Steve Turley is a real estate developer who is midway through his second elected term on the council. He sits on the planning and land use committees and is chair of the council's appropriations/budget committee, among other assignments. He is also on the board of the Utah League of Cities and Towns. Turley's personal interests have brushed against city business at times:

Turley advocated for a general plan change in an area where he owned property, according to former councilman Dave Knecht.

In 2004, during a work session on the general plan, Turley said that the city should have a less specific plan for development on the hillside in northeast Provo, and it should build a road allowing for more development, said Knecht, who attended the session. Knecht said Turley also lobbied him in the hallway.

According to a complaint filed by Turley against Scott Smith, a northeast Provo landowner, Turley and Smith signed an agreement on April 1, 2004, for Turley to buy some of his property. The general plan meeting came later that year.

"It's a huge conflict of interest to try and change the general plan for property you own or want to own," Knecht said.

But the changes were not needed to develop his land, Turley countered. As a property rights supporter, he said he was concerned with the municipal council's desire to block development on the hillside based on overblown concerns that he thought could be mitigated.

"I would like things to stand on their own and not just be blacklisted 'because,' " Turley said.

...

Turley suggested swapping some of his land in southeast Provo for city land in the northeast part of the city, according to his elected colleagues. In early 2006, according to then-council chairman George Stewart and vice chair Cindy Richards, Turley came to them with a proposal: His southeast land, including a piece behind Carpenter Seed Co., could be traded for city land in the Sherwood Hills area near the mouth of Provo Canyon that was adjacent to other property Turley had there.

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