Summit County seeks to dismiss Spoil to Soil permit lawsuit

Summit County asked a Third District Court judge to toss Spoil to Soil’s lawsuit and leave the Browns Canyon composting and recycling facility to fight through county channels first, sharpening a dispute that now centers on whether the operation can keep running while officials say it is out of compliance.

In a motion filed May 20, the county argued that Spoil to Soil and the property owners failed to exhaust their administrative remedies before suing over the suspended conditional use permit. The county also said Utah law does not recognize a vested property right in a conditional use permit, putting the legal question squarely on whether the business had any right to bypass the county’s process and head straight to court.

The stakes reach beyond one 45-acre site in Browns Canyon. Spoil to Soil had been a preferred destination for yard waste and food scraps hauled from Summit County’s Three Mile Canyon landfill, and later reporting said the operation had diverted an estimated 75,000 tons of material from that landfill. If the county wins dismissal, it would strengthen its hand in policing a facility that has become one of the county’s most contentious land-use battles. If the case survives, the dispute will keep tying up county staff, court time and the company’s future while operations remain under legal cloud.

The county’s effort to shut down the lawsuit came after months of escalating enforcement. Last August, the Eastern Summit County Planning Commission voted to revoke the permits after a 55-page staff report alleged dozens of violations, including accepting prohibited materials such as snow, plastic and metal, processing soils, operating after hours, site-layout problems and paperwork failures. On Oct. 15, 2025, the Summit County Council temporarily shut down the business after staff cited 27 permit-related violations.

County officials gave Spoil to Soil until April 15 to remove trash and other unauthorized materials from the property and rework its permit application. Staff said the amended application had not been submitted by that deadline, and a county site visit on April 16 found additional unresolved issues. On April 15, Spoil to Soil’s owners and management company filed a renewed lawsuit seeking temporary relief while the case played out. A prior lawsuit was dismissed in March 2026 because the county had not been served on time.

The county’s position mirrors guidance from the Utah Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman, which says conditional use permits are governed by local ordinances and conditions rather than automatic vested rights. For Summit County, the case has become a test of how far local government can go in enforcing land-use rules against a facility that serves Park City-area residents, restaurants and schools, but which officials say repeatedly crossed the line.