May Luncheon at Houston’s Trails End Restaurant

This annual luncheon at Houston’s is one our most highly attended. The reason is that this is where we hear from city and county representatives about land use updates. In other words, what’s going on around the topics of planning & zoning and all of the development that is planned and is happening around Kanab City and Kane County.

After the Houston’s team served up their delicious taco salads to everyone, Chamber board member Nicholas Meyeres kicked things off with a welcome and highlighted new Chamber member Gus Thomas of Gus Thomas Photography. Gus has opened a lovely new gallery right on Center Street in Kanab and the Chamber did a ribbon cutting there to officially welcome him to the business community. Chamber president Pat Guerrero then made the announcement that Chamber treasurer, Matt Claflin, will be leaving the board after four years of service with the Chamber. She thanked Matt for all of his work and he got a round of applause, even though he wasn’t in attendance, as he was out of town. Pat also announced the addition of two new Chamber board members: Julie Williams with East Zion Adventures which is part of Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort, and Lacee Brown who is co-owner of Brown Box Café.

Next, Nicholas introduced County Commissioner Gwen Brown and County Land Use Administrator Shannon McBride, who talked about Kane County having experienced a development boom in 2021 and 2022. Since then, however, most of the projects approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission have stalled and remain incomplete or uninitiated—with one notable exception: The Discovery Center/Visitor Center at the east entrance of Zion National Park is actively moving forward. This project includes new trails, a roundabout, road realignment, and the visitor center itself. Additionally, Kane County secured a grant to improve the road through Cane Beds and past Coral Pink Sand Dunes in anticipation of Zion National Park closing through-traffic to RVs in 2026. They mentioned that overall, while major new activity is limited, this slowdown has offered them a chance to regroup, refocus, and push existing projects toward completion.

City Manager Kyler Ludwig was next to give updates from Kanab City on such projects as Ventana Resort Village near the reservoir, Hidden Canyon subdivision on the east side of Kanab on Hwy 89, the Hidden Valley neighborhood near Chinle Drive, and some new construction at the airport. He then had each of the tables brainstorm what they’d like to see in Kanab. Results of the conversations included everything from qualified workforce to more attainable housing, to more consistent communication about what’s happening around town, to building a YMCA.

After a few more announcements, Nicholas brought the meeting to a close, at which time quite a few attendees stayed to take advantage of the time to connect with one another. Businesses in attendance this month were: Adventure Tours of Kanab, Barrett Financial, Best Friends Animal Society, Best Friends Roadhouse & Mercantile, Brown Box Café, Buckskin Tavern, Burro Flats High Desert Lodge, Cliffview Chapel, Dark Sky RV Campground, Dr. Buck Productions, Eagle Gate Title, ERA Utah Properties, Gus Thomas Photography, Hangin’ On By a Thread, Hirschi Electric, Kanab City, Kanab Film Fest, Kanab Create, Kane County, Kane County Hospital, Mesa Design, Mountain America Credit Union, Ron’s Fresh Baked, Stellar Vista Observatory, Sun Moon Healing, The Independent, USU Southwest, Utah Department of Workforce Services, West Winds Ranch, Wreaths Across America

Be sure to save the dates for our June 12th lunch at Dark Sky RV Campground and our monthly chamber breakfast at Parry Lodge at 8AM on June 17th!