SANDY — Opponents of a Wal-Mart big-box project on Sandy's gravel pit are not going down without a fight.

The Save Our Communities group filed a petition with the Utah Supreme Court Friday claiming the city wrongfully denied the group's request for referendum last week. The petition claims the city applied the incorrect standard when determining if the group had enough signatures to warrant a referendum vote on a controversial zone change.

Although the group collected 6,425 signatures in December, they fell short of the 7,940 required by Sandy officials to meet a 20 percent standard of registered voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election.

The residents' group, however, argues they needed only 10 percent of those registered voters because the zone change was not a comprehensive land-use change. The lesser standard would mean residents only had to gather 3,970 signatures to put the item on the city's ballot.

"Everyone has put their heart into just taking it to a vote of the people," said group leader Cynthia Long. "I'd like to see the city just say, 'OK, let's put it on the ballot.' "

Friday's court petition is the latest tactic by Save Our Communities to fight the development after a zoning decision by the City Council opened the door to a Boyer big-box project. The development would put a Wal-Mart and Lowe's on the 107-acre gravel pit at 9400 South and 1300 East.

Long had expected to collect more than enough signatures to meet even the 20 percent mark but said unincorporated Salt Lake County islands tucked within Sandy borders made the collection drive nearly impossible.

"I believe that 1,100 of the signers really did believe they were Sandy citizens," she said. "People in Sandy city don't even know where they live."

Sandy encompasses more unincorporated areas than any other city in the county, and Long estimates roughly 1,398 of the residents who signed the group's petition were not officially registered voters in Sandy.

Long added that she is frustrated by city officials who say they may not even allow the referendum if either signature standard is met. Sandy City Attorney Walter Miller said the city is still deciding whether the zone change is eligible for a referendum because it is an administrative decision rather than a legislative one.

"All along we've said we question whether this is appropriate, but we let them have their chance," Miller said. "We bent over backward to be fair."

But Save Our Communities attorney Robert Hughes said the city's hesitation to make a decision on whether to ultimately allow a referendum has left residents in a lurch without legal recourse.

"We could win on this, and then the city could turn around and declare it insufficient again," he said. "Our preference would be to litigate all this at once, but the city expressly declines to raise that issue. They don't want to appear obstructionist to the voters."

In the meantime, Hughes also petitioned in 3rd District Court on Jan. 14 to halt development of the gravel pit until after the referendum issue has been resolved. Although that petition was put on hold after the city denied the referendum request, it may be revived if the Utah Supreme Court finds in favor of the resident group.

"If we win on this, then we have to go through this process all over again. Meanwhile, out there at the gravel pit, they're moving dirt," he said.

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