SANDY — In a sometimes contentious meeting Tuesday night, the Sandy City Council voted 5-2 to remove a 16-year-old zoning restriction and allow a new Wal-Mart and Lowe's to be built on the site of the Sandy gravel pit.

Following the vote, "boos" and a few shouts drifted from the audience, which packed the council chambers. After the meeting, one woman said she thought lawsuits would be filed, while a man commented that he and others were considering launching a referendum to overturn the decision.

But not all the reaction was negative. Another resident praised the council's position, saying it would broaden the city's tax base.

The proposal by the Boyer Co. to build the "big-box" stores on the 170-acre site at 9400 South and 1300 East had been a lightning rod for controversy. The proposal was backed by the Sandy Planning Commission but opposed by some residents. Placards and "Vote No" lapel pins were in evidence at Tuesday's council meeting.

Dave Heyborne, 17, gave the council a petition signed by 489 students at Jordan High School "who do not want to see a Wal-Mart or a Lowe's" on the property, he said. Instead, they want more greenery and parks, not "another parking lot in our city."

Council members Dennis Tenney and Linda Martinez-Saville opposed the zoning change. The other members — Scott Cowdell, Bryant Anderson, Don Pott, John Winder and Steve Fairbanks — voted in favor.

Council members said they had received hundreds of telephone calls on the issue.

Tenney said he was involved in placing the restriction on the land 16 years ago, and he urged council members to "keep faith" with that decision.

"All the reasons we zoned this property the way we did 16 1/2 years ago" are even more pertinent today, he said.

Big-box stores at the site would permanently change the character of the area, he said. That would be "a terrible disservice to our business community," located about a block-and-a-half west of the site, he added.

There's no reason a "wonderful" housing development could not be created on the site, he said.

Martinez-Saville showed photographs of local businesses that were vacant, implying competition with the giant chains could drive away more stores.

"I want you to shop in our city because that's what helps us, that's what we need," she said.

Anderson said the city has spent $48 million in the past seven years on parks and that to add more would be a significant investment.

Property taxes pay for fire services, while police, roads and other services are largely funded by sales taxes, he said. Because of the budget crunch, the city had to lay off 11 employees last year, he added.