North Salt Lake faces new obstacle in land battle

Even if North Salt Lake wins a lawsuit against Salt Lake City over 80 acres of open space, it may end up losing in the end.

The Salt Lake County Council is expected to pass a resolution Tuesday that would declare its intention to hold on to the disputed land, even if the courts take it away from Salt Lake City.

North Salt Lake owns the land, which lies within Salt Lake City's borders. For more than four years, the neighboring cities have fought over the pristine foothill land straddling the border between North Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. The former wants to develop the land, while the latter wants to leave it as open space — and neither side will budge.

Now the fight is wending its way through the courts. North Salt Lake leaders are asking the court to disconnect the land from Salt Lake City. If that happened, the land would become part of unincorporated Salt Lake County.

North Salt Lake leaders would then ask the Salt Lake County Council to allow the land to be annexed into the Davis County city.

But the proposed resolution says the County Council would plan to say no. Without the county's approval, the land could not be annexed into North Salt Lake.

"It's great news," said Salt Lake City Councilman Dave Buhler. "It's great to get (the county's) support."

In November 2005, the Salt Lake City Council tightened the zoning on the land from open space, which would have allowed such development as cemeteries or parks, to natural open space, which prevents any development.

North Salt Lake wants to put housing on 20 of the acres and use 10 acres for a cemetery. Groomed trails and parks could be built on the remaining acreage, which would be preserved as open space, said Collin Wood, North Salt Lake's city manager.

"We're trying to improve the land," Wood said.

But the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor Rocky Anderson want to preserve the land, a prehistoric Lake Bonneville shore bed that Councilman Eric Jergensen called "just an amazing place."

According to the resolution, the County Council would keep the land zoned as open space.

Buhler said that, as far as he sees it, the county resolution would make North Salt Lake's annexation attempts a moot point.

"Technically it doesn't shoot down all their hopes," Ashton said. "Just like they did with Salt Lake City, they could take it to the courts."

Wood, who learned about the proposed resolution from a Deseret Morning News reporter, said he was unhappy with it and questioned why the county would consider it without first talking to North Salt Lake officials.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com; dsmeath@desnews.com