Riverton group takes heart in court ruling

Opponents of a planned commercial and residential development in Riverton have their hopes up in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling they believe could come into play in their long-standing legal battle.

Riverton United, a group of residents also known as Save Rural Riverton, has been fighting the plans by Hamilton Land to develop about 100 acres just east of Bangerter Highway and south of 11800 South, which would include a Wal-Mart as well as other commercial and residential elements. The group wants to put the development to a citywide vote but has failed to get the issue on the ballot several times.

Now, they say, the Supreme Court may have given them new hope.

The high court on July 1 ruled in favor of Sandy residents opposing a Wal-Mart planned there. That ruling addressed several issues, including the question of whether zoning ordinances are subject to voter referenda: They are.

And while that question has come up in the Riverton debate, it has not been part of an official legal challenge, although it could come up in the future.

For now, Riverton United sees hope in the ruling on other issues in their case. In March, 3rd District Court Judge Bruce Lubeck ruled that the group's petitions were invalid because they had been filed with the county clerk rather than the city recorder. Riverton United said the city's attorney told them the petitions could go to either the clerk's or the recorder's office, but the judge said the Legislature has said otherwise.

But Lubeck has since been transferred to a Summit County courthouse and the Riverton case has a new judge, Judge John Paul Kennedy. On Monday, Kennedy will hear arguments on a motion to reconsider that ruling, and Riverton United believes the Supreme Court's Sandy ruling instructs courts to side with the right of voters to a referendum when there are any ambiguities in state law.

"We believe there is a basis in the Sandy Supreme Court ruling to say that the referendum should not have been dismissed by Judge Lubeck," Riverton United President Dennis Sampson said.

From the beginning, the argument over the Hamilton development has hinged on procedural questions. The development was approved by a lame-duck city council in a rare Saturday morning session in January 2004, and angry residents immediately tried to get the ordinance thrown out by a citywide vote.