A proposed 10-unit development in downtown Bountiful would preserve the historic Benard Mansion rather than demolish it, but the project raises a governance question: the property belongs to a sitting city councilmember.

Bountiful City Councilmember Richard Higginson owns the land at 92 West Center Street, where his son Dave Higginson has applied for preliminary approval of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) subdivision. The elder Higginson describes himself as a minor partner in the project, the Davis Journal reported.

Higginson also previously served on the Bountiful City Planning Commission, according to 2025 commission meeting minutes. PUD subdivisions require final City Council action, meaning the project could eventually come before the council on which Higginson sits. No public statement about whether he would recuse himself from such a vote appears in available records.

City staff recommended the Planning Commission approve a preliminary PUD plat for the property at its Sept. 1 meeting, according to the Davis Journal. The plan calls for eight attached for-sale townhomes alongside the mansion, which counts as a duplex, totaling 10 residential units. The commission has not published minutes from that meeting, and the vote outcome has not been confirmed.

Higginson told the Davis Journal that developers had previously approached him in his capacity as a councilmember with plans to tear down the mansion and build townhomes or apartments on the block. The family decided against it.

"We thought the home was definitely worth keeping despite the fact that it had plumbing issues and some other things that needed to be taken care of in order to make it perfectly livable," he said.

Dave Higginson lives in the mansion's main level. His son and daughter-in-law live in a basement apartment that has its own entrance and has served as a separate residence since at least 1960, according to Richard Higginson. The basement was originally used as a mortuary when the home was first built.

No date has been announced for City Council consideration of the project. Planning Commission meetings are held at Bountiful City Hall, 795 South Main St.