Mapleton settles land-use dispute

MAPLETON — The paperwork is in, Wendell Gibby is discussing subdivision plans with Mapleton's planning department and, for the first time in nearly five years, the two parties are not fighting over the use of Gibby's land on Maple Mountain.

Believe it or not, Mapleton city officials and Gibby have reached a settlement.

The two parties have battled over several different issues — including eminent domain and civil rights — since Gibby in 2002 plowed over a dirt path the city had pegged as a public access point to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

But the out-of-court settlement lays the issues and the lawsuits to rest, mapping out a compromise that allows Gibby to build his subdivision and the city to build its trail.

The Mapleton City Council voted 3-1 to approve the settlement during a City Council meeting May 15, a decision Mayor Jim Brady said came after much deliberation.

The council could have moved to continue litigation in the courts or fight the issues using legislation but instead chose to put the issue behind them.

"I feel like given the options available to us," Brady said, "the council made the best choice."

The city, Brady said, was never trying to keep Gibby from putting in a subdivision.

"The dispute has never been about whether or not you can develop property, it has always been about the terms under which you can develop," he said.

Gibby said the compromise is everything he ever hoped for.

"I'm thrilled," Gibby said. "I'm tickled pink. This settlement gives us the same thing we asked for five years ago."

He said, however, the fight over the land was never about building a subdivision — it was about property owner rights. That's why he kept battling on, as the years went on and legal bills piled up to nearly $600,000.

"It was insane and inconceivable to me that a city government would prosecute one of its citizens — and I'm an upstanding citizen; I'm no shmuck — for plowing their own agricultural property," he said.

The city agreed to rezone Gibby's property to allow him to build a subdivision with 47 homes.

Under the current zoning, Gibby could build only 22 homes.

To accommodate the future subdivision, Mapleton will widen the road leading up to Gibby's property and allow Gibby to move some power lines out of the way.

Gibby agreed to give the city a strip of land, which is worth more than $6 million, as an access point for the Bonneville Shoreline trail. The trail will be moved to the west end of Gibby's property, however, rather than cutting straight through the middle where it would impede development.

Gibby is also giving the city an easement, at no cost, to put in an 18-inch water main.

If the city meets the conditions of the settlement by September, Gibby will drop all lawsuits against the city.

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