"We got a call from Ivory Homes and two other developers," Mayor Shanna Schaeffermeyer told city officials meeting Wednesday evening to discuss uses for the city's choicest chunk of real estate.

"Everybody wants to buy our property. I've told them it's not for sale - yet."

In a February settlement with Salt Lake City, North Salt Lake retained 20 acres of east-bench land perched high above the Salt Lake Valley - 13 of those acres are developable while the remainder is too steep to build on.

A 1.5-acre wetland area, bordering Tunnel Springs - a source of water for North Salt Lake - occupies part of the 13-acre parcel

North Salt Lake's settlement with Salt Lake City enabled the two feuding cities to keep the disputed land - a total of 80 acres - out of court.

The land - in Salt Lake County - had been purchased many years ago by North Salt Lake for water rights.

Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City officials aimed to preserve most of the area as natural open space - in the settlement, the two entities agreed to purchase 60 of the 80 acres from North Salt Lake.

A portion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail crosses the property. The agreement allows North Salt Lake to reroute some of that trail to the steeper portion of North Salt Lake's 20 acres.

Wednesday's hastily organized session gave an opportunity for members of the Planning Commission, City Council, city staff and various stakeholders to brainstorm what some termed North Salt Lake's beachfront property.

Residents Bruce and Terry Kaplan attended the meeting to keep abreast of the city's plans. Their preference would be to leave the entire 13 acres as open space.

"No one here is excited about turning a large part of this over to developers," said Councilman Conrad Jacobson. "However, we've fulfilled our commitment to open space even if we need to develop a portion of this for a park and cemetery."

Stan Porter, chairman of North Salt Lake's parks, trails and recreation committee, expressed concerns that development might run roughshod over the park and open space specified for the area in the city's master plan.

"They should have public hearings and comments first, then discuss what they want to do with the land," Porter said.

However, with developers already knocking on their door, city leaders grapple with how long to make them wait.

"Some suggested we ought to consider the land's west end as beach-front property and to think high-end, such as expensive condos or something more resort-type," said Planning Commissioner Brenda Mumford, comparing it to Park City without the ski resort.

Whether to request proposals from developers first or to gather public comment first remained in question.

cmckitrick@sltrib.com