Utahns say yes to open space

When Park City officials started setting aside funds for open space, Rademan said Salt Lake residents and leaders laughed at the resort town for paying for free resources. Now, he said, the poll results show that other cities are catching on.

"I always hear the argument that we don't need more open space. Obviously, that's not the way 65 percent of the people feel," he said. "They want trails and nature out their back door. I do, too. So we opened our checkbook and paid for it."

Parker, however, sees a down side to the initiative. Currently, 78 percent of Utah land is government-owned. Pumping more money into government land acquisitions will only drive land prices up and pit private landowners against government officials with deep pockets, he said.

"For the future, a new generation of farmers and ranchers will be competing against tax dollars for these resources," Parker said.

The initiative nearly didn't make it on the ballot when state and local officials initially invalidated some signatures from Utah and Cache counties. But Smith's group appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, which ruled the signatures were valid.

Parker said the Farm Bureau is also opposed to Initiative 1 because it bypasses the regular legislative process. Without the compromise and information that stems from legislative debate, he said the initiative is simply a yes or no check-box on that ballot that voters do not truly understand.

That sentiment is echoed by state Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, and president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, who said the open-space initiative looks great on paper but is filled with provisions that citizens do not understand. Those misunderstandings, he said, are what led to the poll results showing support for the initiative.

"It sounds like motherhood and apple pie. We all love open space and clean air and clean water. We all do. But there is so much on the initiative that people do not know," Stephenson said.

Stephenson said he expects the initiative to fail at the voting booths in November after citizens get more information, which will mostly come from a press release and debate campaign that his organization will soon start. Making residents aware of the bond details in the short time before the election will be a difficult task now that two out of three residents already support the proposal, Stephenson said.

One such detail, he explained, is that $30 million of the $150 million bond will be set aside for municipal buildings, convention centers and parks. Those municipal buildings do not fall under the open space category that is being sold to voters, he said.

Another sticking point for Stephenson is that the money will be dispensed by the Utah Quality Growth Commission, a non-elected board.