South Salt Lake » Residents of this industrial burg -- along with nonresidents -- decried a city plan to sell a park next to the Jordan River Parkway.
On Wednesday, the South Salt Lake City Council weighed the sale of Workman Park, 2350 S. 950 West, to the Utah Transit Authority, which has a new light-rail service center next door. The $1,356,540 windfall would be used to buy the former Woodrow Wilson Elementary, 2820 S. 200 East, to create a larger park in the heart of the city.
"Four acres in Location A, nine acres in Location B," City Councilman John Weaver said. "We're trading basically four for nine."
But users of Workman Park, during a routine public-comment period, pressed for 13 acres, instead: Keep Workman and buy Woodrow.
"The priority of open space is adding more -- not less -- and not trading parcel for parcel," said Wes Losser, a former South Salt Lake mayor who is running for the office again this year. "Why are we catering to UTA for heaven's sake?"
UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said, in an interview, that South Salt Lake approached the transit agency about the sale.
"The site we currently own [for the service center] is more than adequate," he said. "UTA is a partner with South Salt Lake City ... We want to support them in their vision for the community."
Candice Bourgeois, a Sandy resident, presented the City Council with a petition of 177 people -- most of whom live outside of South Salt Lake -- opposed to selling Workman Park. Many people use the "beautiful" park for kids' baseball games on weekends, she said.
"We have people coming from as far north as Ogden, from Draper and Tooele," she said. "The location is great."
City Councilman Boyd Marshall said he supports the sale of the park in his district because it "does not get used by [South Salt Lake] citizens" and the city has the chance to build an "even bigger park right in the middle of the city."
Some residents suggested the council schedule a public hearing on the sale before it is completed. South Salt Lake City Attorney Dave Carlson advised against a hearing.
"I can't understand why you'd want to have a public hearing," he said. "The only time you need to have a public hearing is when the law requires it."
Still, members of the council noted, people can chime in during the general public-comment period at the start of its Aug. 5 meeting. That's when the council plans to vote on the sale.
The South Salt Lake City Council will consider the sale of Workman Park at its next meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. on Aug. 5.
