The latest example: When Godfrey announced Saturday the city would not sell the Mount Ogden Golf Course to Sandy developer Chris Peterson - a reversal of his previous support for that option - Wicks welcomed the about-face.

"That's a relief to a lot of people," she said Monday. "There's little support on the part of residents to develop that area. They see it as the Central Park of Ogden."

Peterson owns more than 1,400 acres high above Ogden's east bench. His intent, for at least a year, has been to buy the golf course and mountainside land from Weber State University to build an upscale residential subdivision and a gondola to reach his planned west-facing ski resort at Malans Basin.

A gondola proponent, Godfrey backed Peterson's plan as a way to connect, by aerial tram, Ogden's reviving downtown to WSU and the top of the mountain.

However, school officials refused to sell land the university needs for future expansion. And many Ogden residents spoke out against the Mount Ogden transaction, which would have downsized the scenic course and reconfigured some of the city's heavily used trail network.

"It's a huge chunk of our open space and also provides access to the mountain for our residents," Wicks said. "We need to protect it."

Godfrey said Monday he met with Peterson before announcing the golf-course sale was off the table.

"He understood my reasoning behind it," the mayor said, adding that Peterson was frustrated with having to rework much of the plan.

Attempts to reach Peterson on Monday were unsuccessful.

"I don't have the sense that he's giving up at all," Godfrey said of the developer's commitment to the ambitious project. "He's still moving forward to find a way to put it together."

Before launching his run for a third term, Godfrey surveyed constituents to gauge support. However, no questions concerning the golf course or gondola were included in that poll, he said.

The project caused him to be characterized as valuing development more than open space, a reputation Godfrey decries as undeserved.

"By taking the sale of the golf course off the table, it will help everyone see the project will greatly enhance open space and public access to private land" - referring to the mountainside acres Peterson owns.

Wicks hopes to safeguard the golf course and adjacent Mount Ogden Park as recreational open space for future generations. The City Council is scheduled to discuss the Mount Ogden Community Plan on July 17.

"If [the mayor] is truly serious about this," Wicks said, "he should have no problem with the council looking into protecting this property in perpetuity."

Councilman Brandon Stephenson wants Peterson to craft a detailed, albeit-scaled-back plan.

Stephenson, who backs the idea of running a gondola from downtown to WSU and then up to the proposed Malans Basin resort, figures Peterson now will have to approach the sky ride from a different tack.

"That now depends on the developer," he said. "Any good businessman could make it work."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com

What's next

Ogden's City Council is scheduled to discuss a community plan for the the Mount Ogden area July 17.