Tonight the Salt Lake City Council will finally reject or accept a proposal from North Salt Lake that would free up as much as 100 pristine foothill acres for a development plan that includes housing, a cemetery, trails and natural open space.

The vote comes a week after North Salt Lake rejected an offer from the Trust for Public Lands to buy the land for a price to be determined by a new property appraisal. Public-lands groups and Salt Lake City would then have had 18 months to raise enough money to purchase the property.

One sticking point is the purchase price. Salt Lake City officials believe the land is worth about $1 million, but North Salt Lake leaders want $3.6 million.

Before tonight's vote the City Council will convene a public hearing set for 7 p.m. Several Salt Lake City Council members say they expect the council to reject North Salt Lake's proposal. Such a denial isn't likely to settle the long-standing issue, which has languished in Salt Lake City red tape for more than two years now.

"One of these days we're going to have to take some action and see what we can do to resolve it," North Salt Lake Mayor Kay Briggs said.

Such action would likely be a lawsuit that could force Salt Lake City to officially cede the land to North Salt Lake.

The proposal asks Salt Lake City to relinquish some 80 acres of property North Salt Lake owns within Salt Lake City's boundaries. The land is zoned as open space and is inaccessible from Utah's capital except via off-road trail. North Salt Lake argues its city is better able to provide services for the land and should be able to annex the property into its city.

Once annexed, the 80 acres would be combined with another 20 acres to the north, which North Salt Lake owns, and another 20 acres to the south, which is owned privately. North Salt Lake would then build a housing development on 10-40 acres, a cemetery on roughly 22 acres and set aside the rest as natural open space.

Briggs rejects the idea that North Salt Lake will cover the mountainside with so-called "trophy homes." He said the city plan is smart development.

"Everybody seems to want to paint us as anti-environmental," Briggs said. "We are not. We are trying to make better use of that land. In order to do that, we've got to develop a piece of it."

Several Salt Lake City Council members, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson; Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake City; and many others want the entire acreage set aside as natural open space.

"It's different than any other piece of property that I've been associated with in this area," Becker said.

For starters, the land is flat, which is unusual for foothill property, and it provides spectacular views of the Great Salt Lake for hikers, joggers and nature enthusiasts who frequent the area.

Becker, an attorney, maintains that Salt Lake City has a good case if the boundary dispute goes to court.

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