By Miki Mullor
Editor
The Town of Hideout and Mustang Development LLC have settled another lawsuit that had been pending since 2021, marking the second settlement between the parties since Mayor Ralph Severini was elected in November 2026.
By Miki Mullor
Hideout, Utah —
The Town of Hideout has reached a $600,000 settlement with Mustang Development LLC, resolving the first of four pending lawsuits between the town and its master developer and ending a long-running dispute over impact fees and infrastructure reimbursement while three additional cases remain active in Wasatch County court.
The settlement, approved in November 2025, brings to a close litigation that traced back to Hideout’s earliest years as a newly incorporated town. The agreement ends the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, and resolves all disputed payments owed through Sept. 30, 2025, while preserving the town’s reimbursement obligations going forward.
Continue readingBy Miki Mullor, Hideout Comment | October 28, 2025
HIDEOUT, Utah — The Town of Hideout faces a hefty new legal bill after losing a four-year court battle with Mustang Development LLC, one that could cost the town more than it spends on all legal services in an average year.
Mustang filed a motion this month asking a Wasatch County judge to order the town to pay $352,975 in legal fees and costs. The request follows an Oct. 3 ruling that declared the developer the prevailing party in its dispute with the town over development rights under a 2019 master development agreement.
If approved, the payment would exceed more than two and a half times Hideout’s entire 2024 legal budget of about $137,000, according to town financial records. It would also rival the combined annual cost of the town’s engineering and police contracts. That figure does not include the hundreds of thousands of dollars Hideout has already spent on its own lawyers during the case.
Continue readingBy Miki Mullor
Editor
WASATCH COUNTY, Utah (Oct. 7, 2025) — A Utah judge has handed Mustang Development LLC a significant win in its years long battle with the Town of Hideout, affirming the company’s right to nearly 2,000 homes under a master development agreement and allowing damages claims against former Mayor Philip Rubin to move forward.
Fourth District Judge Jennifer Mabey ruled Oct. 3 that Mustang is entitled to seek attorney fees after the town conceded its original position on density was wrong. The court also granted Mustang permission to file a third amended complaint, reviving claims that Rubin acted in his personal capacity when he allegedly conspired with a town planner to spread false information about the developer’s rights.
Mustang is pursuing more than $100 million in damages, claiming the misinformation campaign killed a $9.5 million land sale and devalued property throughout Hideout. A trial date has not been set.
Continue readingBy Miki Mullor
Mayor Phil Rubin has confirmed a water right deficit liability exists, as we reported.
Rubin shared with the Town’ council that he has set up an independent working group made of experts to look for ways to procure water rights, for the already approved 1,800 or so units, which he contends were approved prior to his first administration without actually having the water rights to support it.
Continue readingBy MIki Mullor
The legal drama over Golden Eagle reached a new level today when Mustang Development LLC, the developer of Golden Eagle, sued the Town of Hideout over its refusal to issue certificates of occupancy (COs) in Golden Eagle.
Mustang claims it suffered damages of at least $10 million dollars as a result of lost sales caused by the Town’s actions, including harm to relationships with individuals that have purchased lots, lost past and future sales and harm to its reputation in the Summit and Wasatch County real estate communities.
Continue readingBy Miki Mullor
Hideout Town council has rolled back the increase in water meter connection fees it enacted in March 2022. The Hideout Comment‘s June 19 report exposed the possibly illegal aspect of that increase.
Continue readingBy Miki Mullor
In a June 9 ruling, District Court Judge Jennifer Mabey handed the Town of Hideout another legal loss in the court case regarding the denial of building permits in Golden Eagle on the basis of infrastructure reasons.
By Miki Mullor
This morning Judge Jennifer Mabey of the 4th District Court issued a temporary restraining order barring the Town of Hideout from relying on four of the five reasons it has been using to deny building permits in Golden Eagle. The ruling on the fifth reason was deferred until at least May 19.
The ruling deals a major setback to the Town which has been insisting it is only trying to enforce the law as written, spending so much on legal fees, that it is now expecting a $300,000 to a 500,000 budget deficit next year.
Mustang Development LLC, the developer of Golden Eagle, contended that the Town was abusing it’s permitting power to pressure Mustang on a defamation lawsuit it brought two years ago against Mayor Phil Rubin personally – an argument the judge seem to agree with.
Continue readingBy Miki Mullor
The court rescheduled the ruling on Mustang’s motion for a TRO to May 1 at 11 am.
“Although the Court has spent significant time considering the pleadings and evidence presented by the parties’, it is not quite prepared to render its decision on the pending motion. Accordingly, with the Court’s apologies to the parties for the delay and any inconvenience that may result, the oral ruling is continued to Monday, May 1, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.” – wrote Judge Mabey in the scheduling order.
The Hideout Comment 