Moving to Utah (St. George, Cedar City, Washington: home, buy, contractor)

[teriandbill]

My husband and I are retired and looking to move to Utah. We have been looking in several areas, and one we seem to like is New Harmony. I need to have a place that allows horses and chickens. He wants to find a place where he can hunt and fish either on our own property or to have hunting and fishing very close by. We also hope to find a place that does not get a whole lot of snow. We are both older and have health conditions so having to get out and shovel snow to get off the property we want to avoid. Any comments or advise would be greatly appriciated. We are LDS converts 3 years ago.

Thanks

Teri

[skelaki]

If it's in Southern Utah around the St George area, you won't get as much snow but if it's Northern UT (near Salt Lake), you'll probably either be shoveling or hiring it done.

Btw, living in Utah is very different from researching or visiting especially in small towns. You may love it but be prepared for some real culture shock.

[teriandbill]

Thank you for your input We come from a very small country town where we live now, so I dont' think that will be a problem.

[toby04]

New Harmony is a lovely, quiet very rural "suburb" of Cedar City. It does snow there, and being against the hills it can pile up. It can be a bit of for some to get to Cedar City (about 30 minutes) for any shopping or appts. St. George is to the south a little farther for more, but during the winter, there is a section of the freeway known as "black rock" that is often treacherous.

If stocking up on the good days and hunkering down during the storms is ok with you, then you should be fine. There are really not a lot of big storms, and in between the paved roads are maintained very well.

I live 45 miles west of Cedar City and my husband is a contractor who works in Cedar City and there are only 2 or 3 times a winter he'll opt to not travel the roads. We rarely get enough snow at once that you have to "shovel to get out". If you find a home with a garage with entry to the house, you should be fine. You can always hire someone for the "big storms"!

The sight of the snow on the red hills and Zion will be worth it!

[teriandbill]

Thank you Toby for your input. We are coming out on the 27th to have a look around. So far evverything I have been seeing and hearing about New Harmony I really like. I do have one other question. I have been hearing that you can only have 2 or 3 dogs without a kennel licence. Is this correct? We have 6 dogs. Any input you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Teri

[toby04]

Hmm, can't give you a definitive answer on that one!
I tried to look here (http://library5.municode.com/default-test/home.htm?infobase=16163&doc_action=whatsnew - broken link), does not say much.

I believe in the incorporated areas there may be rules like Cedar City's (page 13)

But then I realized New Harmony is part of Washington County!

You may just have to call!

I live in the unincorporated area and we don't have limits, but it is a farm area.
This is a dog loving area, they ride in the pickups, help tend sheep and cattle.

Are you going to build or buy a home?
Good luck and enjoy your visit!

[NYtoVT]

When in you're in New Harmony, Make sure to look due east. Quite a sight that is not visible from I-15.

[toby04]

Did you make out? What did you think? It's too bad you came when we had the worst weather we have had in a long time, rain, floods, gloomy! The snow on the red rocks is beautiful!

[UtahRoots]

Teri and Bill - I think you will also find that since you do belong to the predominant faith and will have social contacts quickly formed within your church, it won't be at all difficult to find some willing kid with an ATV to plow you out when it does snow. You won't have to deal with it all by yourself. And one other thing.... Nobody is going to count your dogs unless they cause trouble. Just don't let the dogs run free and cause trouble with other people's livestock. I bet there are probably quite a number of people in the area you're looking at who have as many dogs as you have. The kennel laws are basically for the protection of the dogs. If you do have to get a kennel license, you'd have to show that you have an outdoor structure for shelter, that you have a fenced exercise area for them, and that you own individual crates for them. There's nothing in the regulations that says you can't bring them in the house. Worst case scenario, you'd have to have an outbuilding and a chain link fenced area big enough to meet the individual requirements for six dogs. If you're planning to have horses and chickens, then you're obviously looking for property with outbuildings anyway and it shouldn't be a big deal or terribly expensive to fence in a dog run area with access to a covered structure and a crate for each dog.

[toby04]

I agree, good post!