Are they dream homes? Or development nightmares?

That question has grown increasingly divisive in Millcreek as Salt Lake County weighs building restrictions that would shrink the size of new homes and force developers to keep their castles "compatible" with surrounding neighborhoods.

For months, each side has shouted about property rights - the one yearning to build, the other lobbying to keep so-called "monster homes" from appearing next door.

But Millcreek remained far from a consensus this month as those buttoned-down building standards went before the Millcreek Planning Commission for a recommendation (expected sometime this summer).

"The issue . . . is not moving along to be a slam-dunk or a quick fix," Planning Commissioner Gary Sackett said.

Instead, the suburb (population 65,000) has splintered ideologically, and grass-roots organizations - BuildWise and Responsible Renewal - have formed on each side. BuildWise backs tougher building standards. Responsible Renewal calls them "a train wreck about to happen."

The rift also appears in hundreds of constituent e-mails to the Planning Commission and in razor-thin decisions by the East Millcreek and Canyon Rim community councils on whether to participate in a Millcreek-specific zone for stiffer building restrictions. East Millcreek said yes; Canyon Rim voted no.

"It appears to [Planning Commissioner Leslie Van Frank] that not only the community, but also the community councils, are now fraught with a great deal of divisiveness with regards to this issue," according to an e-mail sent by county planner Tom Schafer to Mayor Peter Corroon and his staff.

Here's where Millcreek's community councils (all except West Millcreek, which wrestles with apartment buildings, not McMansions) agree: The county needs to tweak its building codes for the suburb, but the current proposal won't work as written.

"Really, there is time to look at it," East Millcreek Community Councilwoman Leslie Riddle said, noting the housing market's recent downturn. "We don't want an ordinance changed based on a small group of citizens who see it one way."

The county introduced stricter rules last year, hoping to bridle a building bonanza that had replaced tiny tract houses in Millcreek with multilevel homes. According to a county survey, homes ranged from a meager 440 square feet to a sprawling 17,000 square feet.

So the county proposed limits on house height, floor space, side-yard setbacks and several other factors, which planners believed would tame monster homes and promote neighborhood compatibility.

Harold Lamb, a spokesman for BuildWise, stands behind those proposed changes as ways to preserve the character and desirability of Millcreek's neighborhoods.

"We're not opposed to development at all," he said. "It is essential. It is the only way the community can evolve. The only thing we want is that development be compatible."

Conversely, Responsible Renewal founder Blake Keithley - who operates the Web site www.responsiblerenewal.com - argues that the code restrictions would stifle growth, pinch property values and impose rigid rules, making some traditional homes "unbuildable."

"We need to halt this process and send it back to a group of professionals [planners, builders and architects] to see if we can't come up with a workable solution," Keithley said. "As it is proposed, it is probably unfixable."

That decision now rests with the Millcreek Planning Commission, which must make a recommendation to the Salt Lake County Council. The commission's most recent meeting agenda hints at the political heft of that choice.

"The commission is now in the process of digesting and evaluating the testimony that has been heard on several occasions," the agenda states. ". . . The matter will appear again on the regular monthly agenda as soon as the commission has thoroughly worked through the issues that have been raised about the proposal."

Rita Lund, a community-council liaison to the County Council, suspects the outcome will include concessions that neither side of the debate wants to make.

"It is just a matter of getting to the place where everyone feels uncomfortable," Lund said. "Then you are right where you should be."

jstettler@sltrib.com