Gravel pit debate divides, confuses

Battle lines have been clearly drawn in Sandy between residents favoring a big-box development at the city's gravel pit and those pushing for a park on the 107-acre lot.

Friction between the two groups has left city officials struggling to sort out the facts before a vote Tuesday night that could rezone the area to allow a Wal-Mart and Lowe's.

"All the information out there is so biased. It's been both sides trying to sell their plan," said Councilman Scott Cowdell.

That lobbying by residents and by developer Boyer Co. may have thwarted plans for a citizen poll that City Council members hoped could shed light on whether residents wanted the big-box retailers at the lot on 9400 South and 1300 East.

Dianne Meppen, project director at Dan Jones & Associates polling company, said a trial survey revealed that most residents misunderstood the proposed Boyer project and the zoning change that would allow the development to move forward.

"There is too much confusion and too many unanswered questions to warrant a survey at this time," she said. "If respondents do not have the correct information, they cannot make a valid decision."

Much of the confusion, Cowdell said, is because the discussion on the pit has veered from the zone change to a Wal-Mart versus park debate. Cowdell said that dialogue was inappropriate because the only issue facing the council was the Boyer application, not a park proposal.

"This Wal-Mart versus park talk should have been nipped in the bud from the beginning," he said. "We don't own the land, we can't dictate the owner to put up a park."

But resident Gary Forbush, a member of the Save Our Communities Group leading the opposition to the Boyer project, said the park has to be considered because the city will give up that opportunity by approving the zone change. Presenting alternatives to City Council members will let them see what they might be missing by letting Boyer develop the land, Forbush said.

Forbush added that he was disappointed the Dan Jones poll wasn't completed because he thought it would show the council that the majority of residents are against the development. That ratio, he said, should have been obvious already to council members with the strong majority of speakers at public hearings on the gravel pit voicing opposition to Boyer's plan.