From Deseret News archives:
Dispute is a tale of 2 cities
North S.L. wants a parcel developed; S.L. Council does not
It's the latest twist in an ongoing tug-of-war between Salt Lake City and Davis County.
For more than two years these neighboring cities have fought over a parcel of pristine foothill land that straddles the border between North Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. One city wants to develop the land, while the other wants to leave it as open space — and it seems neither side will budge.
"I don't want to have to end up in court, but we're certainly big enough people to do it if we have to," North Salt Lake Mayor Kay Briggs said. "This has taken long enough."
Briggs said his city will not back down to the Salt Lake City Council, which recently denied North Salt Lake's latest development plan for the land. North Salt Lake owns the land, but 80 acres of it sits within Salt Lake City boundaries — giving the larger city's officials governing power over zoning the land.
The North Salt Lake City Council unanimously passed a resolution this past week urging Salt Lake City to relinquish control of the land and allow North Salt Lake to annex it into their boundaries.
The Salt Lake City Council already said no once in December. Now the council has 30 days to respond to North Salt Lake's latest resolution.
The Trust for Public Lands wants to purchase the property from North Salt Lake and maintain it as open space. But negotiations have stalled.
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. The Trust for Public Land offered North Salt Lake $100 to stall development for 18 months while they raise enough money to purchase the property, but the city rejected the offer.
Briggs said he is tired of fighting with Salt Lake City. And instead of dragging the issue to the courts, he might just give up altogether and let somebody else deal with it.
"We may simply step back and say look, we aren't developers, we're a city," Briggs said. "We'll sell somebody the rights to it and they can fight with you if they want."
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com
