North S.L. buys 95 acres for trail system, park

The city of North Salt Lake has purchased 95 acres of foothill land to create a trail system above the city and to build a small park.

The land for the park is adjacent to the Eaglewood Golf Course. The parcel includes part of a small canyon called Wild Rose Canyon.

The city paid $575,000 for the land, although it is worth about $2 million or more, said city attorney Mike Nielsen. A group of four developers, including Bountiful-based Sky Properties, sold the land to the city for a quarter of its value. The developers will get tax write-offs for the remaining $1.5 million value of the land.

The property is located within a mile of 80 acres of land that is being fought over in court by North Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. North Salt Lake wants to develop part of that land, a move opposed by Salt Lake City, which wants the land preserved as open space.

Last year, in the midst of the fight, Kay Briggs, who was then North Salt Lake's mayor, declared his intent to preserve the 95-acre parcel as open space.

The new park has been named Trailhead Park. The city plans to spend $600,000 to $1 million on restrooms, parking and other amenities for the park, through a citywide impact fee that North Salt Lake already levies for parks and trails.

Juan Arce-Laretta, a North Salt Lake resident who serves on the city's trails committee, said Wednesday that he was pleased that the city was preserving foothill open space. Of the 95 acres, about three will be used as a city park, while the remainder will be part of a nature-trail system.

"I think that open space is great, and it is nice that they did that," he said.

But Arce-Laretta questioned the city's overall commitment to preserving open space. He wants the contested 80 acres also to be preserved as open space.

While North Salt Lake owns the 80 acres, it is within Salt Lake City's boundaries and jurisdiction. Last year, the two cities sued each other. A trial date has been set for Feb. 20 to hear North Salt Lake's lawsuit, which seeks to disconnect the land from Salt Lake City's boundaries.

No trial date has been set for Salt Lake City's lawsuit, which seeks to have a portion of the land condemned so that North Salt Lake can no longer develop it.

Nielsen said Wednesday that the city intends to preserve the 80 acres just as it preserved the 95 acres for the new park. "We know what we are doing," he said.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com