SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Two neighboring Salt Lake City suburbs that work closely together are now fighting in court over a piece of land, with the city of South Jordan describing West Jordan’s actions as arbitrary and illegal.
South Jordan wanted to rezone a 5-acre piece of undeveloped land that straddles the West Jordan border in order to build a 5-million-gallon water tank and pipes to ferry the water to South Jordan residents.
West Jordan’s planning commission gave a preliminary approval to the plan. But in January, the West Jordan city council voted against the measure.
Several city council members questioned why South Jordan water tanks should be built on land in their city. West Jordan Mayor Kim Rolfe said several council members wanted the land used for a project that would benefit their residents as well.
Council member Zach Jacob, who voted against the request, said the city recognizes it needs to be a good neighbor and said, “I want South Jordan to know we still love you.”
Another council member, Chris McConnehey, was going to ask the city to reconsider its vote to reject the plan, but South Jordan filed a lawsuit in March, putting council actions on pause.
“This is really weird and really unique,” McConnehey said. “You’ve got a city next to us who’s trying to locate some of their infrastructure within some of the borders here. We’ve never seen that before.”
In its lawsuit, South Jordan asks for a judge to approve the rezoning request and let the water tower plans move forward. South Jordan says its neighboring city council gave no factual or legal basis to deny the rezoning request.
“West Jordan has always been a good neighbor, and we work well with them,” South Jordan city spokeswoman Tina Brown told The Salt Lake Tribune (https://bit.ly/2puytLw). “So hopefully this matter will be taken care of soon.”
Brown declined to offer more details because of the pending lawsuit, but she said the dispute has not damaged the cities’ relationship.
The city of West Jordan has not filed any response to the lawsuit in court, and no hearings have been held. A message seeking comment from the city of West Jordan was not returned Monday.
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This story has been corrected to show that the land in the dispute is 5 acres, not five miles.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltrib.com
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