North Salt Lake owns the property and has waged a protracted campaign to get Salt Lake to give it up. Officials in Davis County's southernmost city argue that Salt Lake has no ability to service the area.
But Salt Lake officials, including Mayor Rocky Anderson, and conservation groups have staunchly opposed any development on the Bonneville Shoreline property, despite what North Salt Lake officials see as a workable open space compromise: with only 10 of the 80 acres developed as housing, 23 as a cemetery and 47 left as natural open space.
Just prior to the vote Tuesday, a group of North Salt Lake residents addressed the city council in an appeal for more participation in finding an more open space friendly solution to the stalemate.
Resident Juan Arce-Larreta and nearly 20 supporters were at the meeting to urge the council to seek more input before moving ahead.
"We have an interest in this," Arce-Larreta said. He added that he didn't want see people prevented from participating, even though the open space support has admittedly come at what seems to be the last minute.
Arce-Larreta and eight others have been hitting the streets this past week in an effort to get signatures, and to generally take the community's pulse on the issue. He said, so far, the majority of North Salt Lake residents support preservation.
"I was overwhelmed with the response that people want to keep it (the land) as it is now," one volunteer told the council. "People feel that they've had enough of development in the area."
Late last year, North Salt Lake rejected a Trust for Public Land offer to purchase the property for $100. North Salt Lake Mayor Kay Briggs told Arce-Larreta that developers have offered the city up to $160,000 per acre, bringing the total package to roughly $9 million. "Come in with a price," Briggs told the group.
At the meeting, Joe Hansen, son of Congressman Jim Hansen, said he could help the council work both sides of the issue more effectively.
Hansen countered that it's hard to come up with a fair price because the financial worlds of conservation and real estate are so vastly different. Hansen facetiously offered the city $101 for the property, drawing laughter from those in the room.
The council answered only by saying $3.6 million was a price the city set some time ago.
In response to appeals for more participation, and a slowed down march toward litigation, Briggs said he and the city have already been fighting to find a solution and meet the needs of constituents, including those who want open space.
Council Member Brian Muir tried to highlight what the city sees as a balancing act. "We have to balance the city's assets, that we are stewards of, along with the open space," he said.
Arce-Larreta asked the council to put him on some sort of committee to work directly with the council and the public. But the council bristled at his choice of words and the idea of forming an official committee.
Briggs and Council Member Bryan Morely said they would volunteer to work with the group or anyone else who's interested, even though time appears to be running out.
ztodd@davisclipper.com
Post a Comment
