This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah's state Charter School Board won't take part in an ongoing legal dispute between Draper's American Preparatory Academy and a neighboring industrial park.

The school's governing board, Utah Charter Academies, had asked the state Charter School Board to intervene on its behalf and use the legal power of eminent domain to condemn and claim a narrow piece of land that blocks access to American Preparatory Academy's parking lot.

But after more than an hour of closed-door debate, charter board members voted to delay consideration of any eminent domain actions until after Utah Charter Academy's lawsuit against its neighbors is resolved.

"We want the school to know that we support you," said state Charter School Board Chairwoman Kristin Elinkowski. "We're terribly concerned about the safety of students. We would love to see this resolved and really wish it could have been resolved in some other way."

The charter board's decision perpetuates a lingering question over whether or not the board, an unelected advisory panel to the Utah Board of Education, possesses the statutory right to exercise eminent domain.

Utah Charter Academies attempted to claim that right as a charter governing board in 2015, but 3rd District Judge Su Chon ruled against the nonprofit corporation, saying it does not qualify as a board of education.

That ruling led the school to seek the help of the state Charter School Board, but the board has never exercised eminent domain and there is disagreement on whether it legally can.

"We're trying to figure out who has authority," Bruce Baird, an attorney for Utah Charter Academies, told state Charter School Board members. "It's either you or it's the [Utah] Board of Education."

American Preparatory Academy is trying to overcome the challenge of access to a landlocked property, located near Lone Peak Parkway and 12200 South.

The school is currently limited to a single point of entry and exit in the form of an easement over land owned by Forrest Corporation. That setup has led to significant traffic congestion in the area as students are dropped off and picked up, which is likely to worsen with the addition this fall of a new high school campus currently under construction.

Utah Charter Academies hopes to access a road on its south side but is blocked due to a portion of the road being private, and a strip of private land that runs along the American Preparatory Academy property.

Construction of the high school has been delayed due to the lack of emergency access routes. But the school recently overcame that by purchasing an adjacent home and using its driveway as an entrance point.

If the school is unable to resolve the property dispute by fall, opening the high school will likely require demolishing the home to create a throughway, spilling traffic into the subdivision.

"This is a fight over getting children into a public school over a strip of land this wide," said attorney Vince Rampton, while holding out his arms. "Please help these people get the school finished and operating."

But the school's neighbors say the road is used by semitrailers and other industrial vehicles, and it would be dangerous to add children and their families into the mix.

David Castleton, an attorney for Price Logistics Center Draper, said the school's original plan was to be fully housed on the Forrest Corporation parcel, allowing sufficient access to Lone Peak Parkway.

"The real solution is on their own property, self-contained," Castleton said. "It's not a matter of safety of the kids, but the amount of profit that the developers, including Forrest Corporation, make."

He accused Utah Charter Academies of failing to follow its construction permits and designs, and using a self-made crisis to pressure city, state and education officials into undue treatment.

"We can prove that APA has not been honest with any of these parties in the development of their Draper campus," Castleton said.

Attorneys for the school said a trial in its suit is tentatively expected this fall. The primary question, they said, was the point at which the road between the industrial park and charter school transitions from a public to a private space.