Moab Seeks to Block Massive Rezone Near Sand Flats Recreation Area

The fight over Sand Flats has turned into a battle over what kind of gateway Moab wants on its eastern edge. Moab City asked Grand County to deny a 235.23-acre rezone at 1021 N. Hell’s Revenge Trail, a parcel tied to Raven’s Rim Zipline, warning that the change could bring annexation fights, new municipal service demands and even drinking water contamination concerns if the land is ever built out more intensely.

The request would shift Parcel 03-0036-0063 from Range & Grazing to Resort Commercial, a category broad enough to allow far more than a zipline and a food truck. Under that zoning, the property could eventually support about 1,175 residential units at full buildout. That prospect is why this has landed so hard with Moab’s recreation crowd: the site sits next to Sand Flats Recreation Area, a place that already channels riders, Jeep visitors and repeat Moab travelers toward Slickrock Bike Trail, Hell’s Revenge Trail and the wider backcountry routes that define the town’s outdoor identity.

Grand County’s public hearing on the rezone was scheduled for April 7, 2026, and the Grand County Planning Commission had already voted 5-2 on March 23 to recommend approval. Commissioners Mary Hofhine and Robert O’Brien voted no. The county later postponed the item on April 21 at the applicant’s request, leaving the future of the parcel unresolved and keeping the pressure on a stretch of land that has become one of the region’s most closely watched development fronts.

The applicant, Minnie Lee Ventures LLC, has said the request is not about a housing subdivision but about bringing the zoning in line with the property’s longtime recreational use and allowing added amenities around the existing operation. Reported ideas include a guided rappel course, a recreational climbing zone, an OHV-accessible event space and a food truck. Raven’s Rim Zipline has operated on the property for more than a decade under a conditional use permit, but critics say the zoning would outlast any single operator and reshape what could be built there long after the current owners are gone.

Opposition has been broad and unusually organized. At the April 7 hearing, roughly 20 people spoke against or in favor of delay, and the Sand Flats Stewardship Committee recommended denial. Andrea Brand, who directs Sand Flats Recreation Area and chairs the committee, said Sand Flats draws more than 250,000 visitors a year, generates more than $25 million in economic activity and supports 99 businesses operating under Bureau of Land Management permits. The committee’s membership includes Brand, Melodie McCandless, Tom Dillon, Mark Pope, Molly Taylor, Mike Kelso and Jennifer Jones.

The property’s history also keeps surfacing in the background. Ashley Steen, identified as a descendant of Moab uranium figure Charlie Steen, is linked to the application, and one report says Charles A. Steen bought the land in 1953. Moab has already shown it is willing to draw lines around this landscape: in 2020, the city adopted a resolution opposing BLM oil and gas leasing near Sand Flats, the Slickrock Bike Trail and Arches National Park.