Deal targets Mapleton land dispute

MAPLETON — After nearly seven years of litigation, the City Council is scheduled to consider a compromise today that may end a heated battle between the city and resident Wendell Gibby over the use of a 10-foot-wide strip of land near Maple Mountain.

According to lawyers for the city and Gibby, the memorandum of understanding lays out the conditions necessary to settle lawsuits that sprang from an argument over a dirt path on Gibby's property.

Gibby wanted to develop the land, which he purchased in the early 1990s, but the city claimed it was needed as a public access point for the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Gibby eventually took the issue to federal court, arguing his constitutional rights were being threatened.

Although there is a chance the City Council could send the proposal back to the drawing board, both sides find the memorandum's appearance on the council agenda heartening.

Negotiations to end the four separate lawsuits still wending through the court system have been in the works for nearly two months.

"It's been amended back and forth, and I think it may be to the point where the City Council is going to pass it," said M. Dayle Jeffs, Gibby's attorney. "Both sides at this point want to get this over with."

Mapleton City Attorney Eric Johnson said city officials are "crossing their fingers." He said the city has long wanted to resolve the issue.

"We'll just have to see if these adaptations will be the magic that gets it all done," he said.

The memorandum, which city officials declined to make public Monday but agreed to talk about in general terms, attempts to balance Gibby's rights as a land owner with the community's needs, Johnson said.

But neither side will get what they originally proposed.

Gibby set a $6 million price tag on the 2,000-foot-long strip after a 4th District judge upheld Mapleton's right to seize the land under eminent domain in March. As part of the new agreement, however, Jeffs said Gibby would hand over the land free of charge.

The memorandum also would allow the city to install an 18-inch water line through Gibby's property, Jeffs said. The city proposed the water line, which would connect a newly built water tower with city water lines, as part of the original efforts to take the land with eminent domain powers.

In exchange, Gibby's lawyers want the city to take a strip of land on the west end of the 120-acre parcel instead of cutting straight through the middle.

If the deal is approved, Gibby also would be able to apply for a zone change that would allow him to build a housing subdivision. The city, which previously denied such a move, will "favorably consider" that application, Jeffs said.

Even if the memorandum is adopted, however, it does not guarantee a resolution.

"It isn't a contract," Jeffs said. "It's an understanding that if the city does certain things and Dr. Gibby does certain things the issue will be resolved."

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