Flat Rock Hotel - Ensign Hospitality, LLC

The application submitted by Ensign Hospitality, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, shows that the project will consist of: three-story Marriott hotel with 132 rooms (according to some rough calculations based on drawings submitted by the applicant, the footprint of the hotel may be around 60,000 sq ft); 5,000 sq ft of meeting space; a spa; a restaurant and bar; 10 singe-family rental units; 25 units of employee housing; associated parking lots, exterior space, and other infrastructure.

Ensign proposes building on a 60-acre parcel of land in the Henrys Lake Flats, adjacent to the north-bound lanes of US-20 and on a parcel that is zoned as Rural Base (the least developmentally impacted zoning labels). The problem with this application is that the applicant has proposed a project that constitutes a large-scale, commercial development but has not gone through the proper application process which would require requesting a zoning change to accommodate this magnitude of development. What they have done instead is apply for a Class II Permit in the Rural Base Zone arguing that this enormous hotel is an allowed use because it can be defined as a “Lodge” which is an approved use under the Fremont County Development Code.

On November 9th, 2024, the Fremont County Planning and Zoning Commission denied Ensign Hospitality’s class two permit application. In a 5-1 vote, the P&Z Commission stated that the application was improper for what the developer was asking for and instead called their request a “large-scale development.” The commission also determined that this development was indeed a “Hotel,” which is not allowed within the rural base zoning.