Salt Lake City Owns 14,877.9Acres Outside Its Own Boundary. Here's Where — and Why.
Cross-referencing every owner of record in the Salt Lake County Assessor's parcel database against Salt Lake City Corporation and its component entities surfaces 634 parcels — 14,877.9 acres — that the city owns beyond its municipal limits, alongside 1,657 parcels (13,602.8 acres) inside them.
The watershed is the story
The largest holdings sit in Parleys Canyon around the Mountain Dell reservoirs, in Emigration and Pinecrest canyons, and along City Creek — land purchased over more than a century to protect the city's drinking-water supply at its source. The legal backbone is Utah Code § 10-8-15, which lets a municipality enforce watershed-protection ordinances outside its own limits. Most cities get 15 miles upstream of their intake and 300 feet either side of the stream; a city of the first class (over 100,000 residents — Salt Lake City qualifies) gets jurisdiction over the entire watershed. That authority has stood since Salt Lake City v. Young (1915).
Ownership is the backstop to that regulation: ordinances can be amended by future legislatures, but a deed cannot. Every time lawmakers revisit extraterritorial watershed jurisdiction, the city's owned acreage becomes more valuable as permanent protection.
Beyond the canyons
The remainder maps to infrastructure that has to sit where geography — not politics — dictates: Salt Lake City Public Utilities wells, reservoirs, and pipeline corridors running down the east bench through Millcreek, Holladay, and Murray; Department of Airports property west of the city; and scattered holdings from the Redevelopment Agency and Municipal Building Authority.
Top owner entities (outside boundary)
| Owner of Record | Parcels | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 123 | 9,481.2 |
| SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION | 448 | 4,053.2 |
| SALT LAKE CITY | 41 | 903.8 |
| SALT LAKE CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION | 2 | 285.2 |
| SALT LAKE COUNTY & SALT LAKE CITY | 1 | 70.7 |
| SALT LAKE CITY CORP. | 16 | 66.7 |
| SALT LAKE COUNTY (TC); SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION (TC) | 1 | 6.4 |
| SALT LAKE CITY CORPROATION | 1 | 5.7 |
| SALT LAKE CITY MUNICIPAL CORP | 1 | 5 |
Largest out-of-boundary parcels
| Parcel ID | Location | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17011000010000 | 8701 E IEIGHTYEAST FWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 657.9 |
| 10023000010000 | 9305 E USIXTY FIVE HWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION | 640.2 |
| 17121000010000 | 8701 E IEIGHTYEAST FWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 519.2 |
| 10151000010000 | 2380 PINECREST CANYON RD | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 440 |
| 17103000010000 | 7100 E IEIGHTYEAST FWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 433.8 |
| 17091000010000 | 6650 E PARLEYS PLANT LN | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 378.7 |
| 17021000010000 | 7901 E IEIGHTYEAST FWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 320 |
| 10291000030000 | 969 N TWIN CREEK CIR | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 310.8 |
| 04353000010000 | 9305 E USIXTY FIVE HWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION | 308 |
| 17052000020000 | 5652 EMIGRATION CANYON RD | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 304.3 |
| 17112000010000 | 7901 E IEIGHTYEAST FWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 304.1 |
| 07242000020000 | 2701 N 3200 W | SALT LAKE CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION | 276.1 |
| 17023000010000 | 7901 E IEIGHTYEAST FWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORP | 240 |
| 18322000010000 | 10599 MILLCREEK CANYON RD | SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION | 230.1 |
| 04324000050000 | 9199 E USIXTY FIVE HWY | SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION | 199.5 |
Owner classification includes Salt Lake City Corporation and component entities (Airports, Public Utilities, RDA/CRA, Building Authority, Library); it excludes the Salt Lake City School District, Housing Authority, and Metropolitan Water District, which are separate legal entities. Full rules on the methodology page.