Richmond, UT – Opponents challenging the construction of a new ski resort in Utah, set to be the state’s 15th such facility, are taking their case to court.

Cherry Peak is proposed by landowner Logan Checketts to be a new 203-acre ski area in a canyon east of the town of Richmond, in the Cache Valley just south of the Idaho border. Plans call for four lifts and facilities, including night skiing and riding, to accommodate up to 1,000 visitors daily. Its nearest current competition would be Beaver Mountain ski area to the east, and Powder Mountain to the south. Across the border, the similarly sized Pebble Creek ski area operates east of Pocatello, Idaho.

The Cache County Planning Commission in February approved the ski area’s Conditional Use Permit application, and that decision was upheld by the county’s Board of Adjustments in March. Now five area residents, backed by the Bear River Watershed Council and the Western Wildlife Conservancy, have appealed that decision to Utah’s 1st District Court, arguing that the county used flawed evidence to reach its decision and that the ski area will result in adverse impacts to an adjacent wildlife management area.

Although it’s proposed to be built entirely on private land, the Cherry Peak site is situated between a federally-designated wilderness area on one side, and a state-operated wildlife management area on the other.

County officials argue that the group’s appeal to the court is premature, as Checketts has yet to pursue completion of the permit following satisfaction of the permit’s conditions.

The court is expected to hear the appeal sometime in spring 2013.