Maple Mountain road to remain uncompleted

PROVO — A judge decided Friday that an incomplete road on Maple Mountain will remain unfinished until the Board of Adjustments reviews the validity of the two grading permits that allowed the excavation work to begin.

Fourth District Judge Fred D. Howard upgraded a temporary restraining order, issued Oct. 24 to halt the grading of a 12-foot-wide road on property belonging to Dr. Wendell Gibby, to a preliminary injunction. The action forbids completion of the road until the Board of Adjustments reviews the issuance of the grading permits.

Mapleton City Manager Robert Bradshaw said he's pleased with the court's decision.

"We are relieved the judge has continued the stay on the excavation," he said. "It gives validity to the appeal process of residents who question the (City) Council's position."

Gibby and Mapleton city have sparred for nearly six years over issues ranging from civil rights to eminent domain to the use of Gibby's land at 2000 E. Dogwood Drive. The two parties appeared to reach a settlement to dismiss litigation, signing a memorandum of understanding on May 15.

The City Council was poised to rezone the land from a critical environment zone to a planned development zone Oct. 16, but Friends of Maple Mountain Inc. obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent the City Council from taking action on the issue.

On Oct. 15, Gibby obtained two grading permits from Mapleton—which he initially applied for in 2002 — to cut a 12-foot road through his property and to move power lines to the east side of his land. As a bulldozer cut the road up Maple Mountain, some residents' ire skyrocketed.

Jim Lundberg, spokesman for Friends of Maple Mountain, obtained a stop-work order Oct. 19, but the bulldozer pressed on over the weekend because Gibby said the permits were valid.

Finally, city officials obtained a temporary restraining order Oct. 24 until a court could review the facts of the case.

In the court hearing Friday, Lyle Fuller, attorney for Mapleton, said city officials aren't contending the permits were wrongly issued but that they need to follow city ordinance, which says that an "appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed." He urged the judge to convert the restraining order to a preliminary injunction pending further review.

"The grading has to stop," he said.

Dayle Jeffs, attorney for Gibby, said the ordinance is ambiguous and the cease and desist order is invalid.

"It's a strange situation when the city claims they issued permits properly and then says, 'You can't use them,"' he said.

The judge ruled to extend the prohibition on excavation work. Gibby said the decision didn't surprise him.

"I think he pretty much made up his mind before we went in," he said.

Gibby said the Board of Adjustments will review the case Nov. 13 to determine the validity of the grading permits. If the board rules against him, Gibby said he plans to appeal the decision.

"In this case, the rights of the individual have been trampled over and over again, which is why I have fought so vigorously," he said.

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