MAPLETON — The Trust for Public Land may be willing to assist the city in finding the resources to buy landowner Wendell Gibby's 120 mountainside acres for preservation.

The national conservation organization could offer assistance in finding multiple sources to meet Gibby's $8 million price tag before filling in the gap with a grant, says trust project manager Michael Patrick.

So far, the city hasn't taken any action that would lead to the purchase of the land, and Gibby is willing to give the city time to cobble together the financing.

The city wants to preserve the mountain from development.

The Trust for Public Land generally contracts to buy land for preservation for fair market value subject to an independent appraisal, then allows the seller to back out if the appraisal is lower than what the seller wants, Patrick said.

"Will you sell for fair market value?" City Councilman Ben Card asked Gibby during a Wednesday meeting.

"I won't sell for less than $8 million," Gibby replied. "The city has tried to artificially depress the value of my land."

The city hasn't said how much it might be willing to pay for the land. Gibby's price is more than three times the city's annual budget, and to meet it, city leaders would have to find other funding or go to the voters to approve a bond.

Gibby says his land is worth $15 million for its view-lot potential but that he would sell the land to the city for about half what he thinks it's worth to resolve his years-long conflict with city officials.

Gibby could develop 20 lots on his land now, but he wants it rezoned to allow 50 lots, which an appraiser has told him would make it worth $15 million.

Gibby and city officials have been at loggerheads over a trail through the midsection of his land that Gibby believes would destroy the development value of the land. City leaders point to a Utah Power road cut through the property, which they claim is a public easement and part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. They say they want the trail for recreational use and for emergency vehicles.

"I've never opposed access to the property by emergency vehicles," Gibby said. "I've always provided keys (to a locked gate)."

Gibby said he has never allowed a trail across his property, and he plowed up the road that bisected his land. For that he was convicted of illegal plowing and ordered to restore the dirt road. He appealed the conviction to 4th District Court. A preliminary hearing on that issue will be held today in Spanish Fork, he said.

"It's not a public road," he said. "Most cities get the easement first and then the trail."

City attorney Eric Johnson said the trail has existed for 70 or more years and that an easement should exist. City officials offered Gibby $15,000 for an easement, an offer he rejected. The city is attempting to take the easement through eminent domain, which is part of a civil lawsuit between the parties.

"Never in Utah has a city successfully condemned property for a trail," Gibby said.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com