If he succeeds in ramming through a proposed zoning change, he could be remembered as a hero for preventing Bluffdale from losing more than a third of its land to Salt Lake County or neighboring Herriman.

Then again, if he succeeds, he also could go down as a villain for siding with developers and allowing high-density housing to take root in bucolic Bluffdale.

As Mortimer sees it, he has no choice but to proceed with the proposed zone change. To do otherwise, he reasons, could cost his growing city a valuable chunk of real estate.

"We're still going to work with the developers," Mortimer said Wednesday. "All we're doing is saving [the land] from going to a disconnect lawsuit."

To prevent that court battle, Mortimer and other city administrators hope to persuade the Planning Commission and City Council to rezone more than 3,000 hillside acres in southwest Bluffdale.

They also plan to draft an agreement giving two developers - Sorenson Real Estate and Development Associates - the "right to develop" the land.

To Chris Brockbank, who directs a resident group that successfully opposed previous development plans for the property, Mortimer's final push before he leaves office next month smacks of arrogance.

"It's just the mayor and some City Council members refusing the desires of the city, and pushing through high-density housing," he said. "The majority of residents who voted in the previous election would rather risk the disconnection as opposed to allowing this development."

The developers' housing plans probably cost Mortimer a second term. Claudia Anderson, who was viewed as an anti-development candidate after she signed a referendum aimed at blocking the plans, defeated the one-term mayor by snagging 54 percent of the vote.

For their part, the developers aim to bring in a mixture of housing - with densities ranging from one-acre lots to 18-units per acre - and businesses. Overall, the housing density would average 2.6 units per acre on the land, which is zoned for a single home for every five acres.

The property is prime real estate because the Utah Department of Transportation's future Mountain View Transportation Corridor runs through the middle of it. It's also valuable acreage because it boasts a scenic view of the Salt Lake Valley.

Officials from both development firms were unavailable Wednesday.

Opponents formed a grass-roots group called Bluffdale United to fight the developments and the higher densities. Most Bluffdale homes sit on one-acre lots.

City administrators initially sided with these residents. The developers responded by suing to disconnect the land from the city. That lawsuit was put on hold for a year while the city and developers attempted to craft a compromise.

They reached two deals, but Bluffdale United blocked both.

In the first, the city created a zone designed to streamline the developments' approvals. A successful referendum drive - which would have put the issue on the ballot in a special election - foiled that proposal.

In the second short-lived accord, the city and the developers signed a lawsuit settlement, which included a consent decree outlining how the developments would be approved.

Bluffdale United again scuttled the deal by convincing a 3rd District judge that he would become the city's de facto zoning administrator if he signed off on the decree.

So the developers have reasserted their demand for a trial to de-annex the land and, with barely a month left in office, Mortimer is launching his third shot at paving the way for the developments.

The city plans to apply a mixed-use zone already on the books to the land. That zone was created and used to approve a 600-acre development south of the Utah State Prison.

"This has everything," needed for the developers to move forward, Mortimer said.

Not if Bluffdale United gets its way.

"We'll spend the holidays walking the streets" to collect signatures for a referendum, Brockbank said.

jsantini@sltrib.com