In a letter to the Planning Commission on Monday, Dan Schroeder, conservation chair of the Sierra Club's Ogden chapter, says a series of e-mails between the attorney and the city show that Salt Lake City Attorney Tom Ellison provided the first draft of a mixed-use ordinance and vetted changes made by city staff.

Schroeder obtained the e-mails and ordinance drafts through a Utah Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA) request.

Ellison did not return a phone call seeking comment. He previously described his involvement as "monitoring" the city's progress on the new ordinance.

Schroeder estimated that 90 percent of the proposed-ordinance language was part of Ellison's initial draft.

Andrea Lockwood, deputy city attorney, disagreed.

Although much of the ordinance is boilerplate that did not change, she said she made several significant changes to Ellison's proposal. "The resulting draft is mine," she said.

Moreover, Lockwood defended consulting Ellison as she worked on the draft.

"The fact that an ordinance is acceptable to a developer to me is not a downside. It simply means they think it will work and will meet their needs. The more important question is: Will it meet the city's needs?"

In this case, Lockwood said the city will be well-served by having an ordinance in place to deal with a project as complex as Peterson's, which cannot easily be considered under traditional zoning.

Under the mixed-use ordinance, a development agreement - rather than specific zoning rules - would guide the project's planning.

"It provides for a more common-sense approach to the decision-making rather than fragmenting the decisions," she said.

Schroeder, who opposes developing the open space along the east bench, says the mixed-use ordinance would allow major land-use and design deliberations to be made in secret meetings with city staffers rather than after public input in open Planning Commission and City Council sessions.

The public would have a say only after the development agreement is finished, he said.

It also would invite developers to ask the city to disregard zoning laws - such as the sensitive-lands zone that restricts slope development - and even the city's general plan, Schroeder says. That plan now calls for foothill open space to remain that way.

Lockwood said the public would not be shut out.

Schroeder notes in his letter that much of Ogden's ordinance was borrowed from a similar ordinance Ellison helped Iron County craft last year.

Ellis represented the developer of Alpine Meadows, a new ski resort with hundreds of homes to be built next to Brian Head. Iron County approved both the ordinance and the project.

Among the documents Schroeder obtained via his GRAMA request was an e-mail from Ellison to Lockwood last month, describing how he was answering media inquiries about his role in the new ordinances.

Ellison said he had told a reporter he was monitoring the process for Peterson, but wouldn't mind disclosing that he had provided a "mixed-use approach" and follow-up comments. He also suggested to Lockwood that "it would be good to take a reasonably consistent approach" with reporters.

Lockwood said she would have told anyone of Ellison's full involvement in drafting the ordinance, but she was not asked.

kmoulton@sltrib.com

The developer's proposal

Chris Peterson has not made a formal proposal, but has said he wants to buy the Mount Ogden Golf Course and surrounding hills to build a 400-home subdivision around a redesigned golf course. That subdivision, along with a small commercial center, would be connected by gondola to a mountain ski resort Peterson wants to build in Malans Basin above the city.

Mayor Matthew Godfrey is advocating Peterson's project, and wants to use the money from selling the golf course to help finance an urban gondola from downtown to Peterson's mountain gondola.

What's next

The mixed-use ordinance is on the Planning Commission's agenda for 5 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 2549 Washington Blvd.