Salt Lake votes to oppose Heritage land lease
The council voted unanimously to join Mayor Rocky Anderson in a resolution calling on the Utah State Parks and Recreation board to deny permission to lease 12 acres of the park to the University of Utah's research park for an Associated Regional and University Pathologists building and parking lot.
"Open space is so valuable in our community," especially when it is accessible to neighborhoods, councilman Soren Simonsen said.
Anderson's spokesman, Patrick Thronson, said the mayor also is considering the option of joining with Salt Lake County officials to buy a conservation easement on the property.
Such an easement would stop any commercial development on the state-owned park. The park board's chairman, Ellis Ivory, has pitched the idea of leasing the 12 acres of park land to the university for $400,000 a year.
Thronson said that one option would be for the county and city to jointly buy a conservation easement on the park property. The city's portion could come from an open-space fund created after voters narrowly approved a $5 million bond in 2003. County voters also approved a $48 million bond in November to buy land for open space.
Councilman Dave Buhler, a mayoral candidate, did not vote on the city resolution because he sits on the park's board. However, he was one of three board members to vote against the lease in March.
Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, who also is running for mayor, touted the park's importance at a meeting last week. House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, in announcing his mayoral candidacy last month, stood at Governor's Grove at the base of the park and praised neighborhood activists for fighting to save the open space.
The heritage park's leaders proposed the lease plan to help the park recover from financial troubles. The park received a one-time grant of $2 million from the state Legislature last February to keep it afloat after mounting debt nearly forced the park to close its doors.
The park receives $700,000 or $800,000 in annual state funding. In addition, the park received $50,000 this year from the county's Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) fund.
Anderson called a last-minute meeting Monday night to discuss park plans. Included in that meeting were park leaders; Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon; Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s spokesman Mike Mower; and state parks officials.
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