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Score one for west-side soccer fields or, more on target, their right to exist.
A 3rd District judge heard two hours of arguments Wednesday before rejecting the Jordan River Restoration Network's request to have construction halted on Salt Lake City's 16-field soccer complex planned alongside the Jordan River at 2200 North.
"I don't believe the petitioners have met their burden," declared Judge William Barrett, adding that besides the "irreparable harm" argument, the network's other points "were weak, too."
The conservation group, which claims to represent 500 residents, had petitioned the court for a temporary restraining order to delay the city's $44 million project, funded partially with a 2003 voter-approved bond. Attorneys for the network insisted the complex would violate flood-plain rules and master-plan edicts, would devastate migratory bird habitat and would spoil precious wild space for the public.
"The public interest favors maintaining the status quo," said network attorney Karthik Nadesan.
The group argued, unsuccessfully, that the city neglected to do a traffic-impact study and that this summer's approval process by the City Council was illegal.
"We're a little surprised and very disappointed," said the network's Jeff Salt. "Once you go forward, there is no way of repairing that damage."
The council voted 6-1 in August to amend a master plan and rezone 30 acres of the 190-acre complex to make way for a championship soccer field with permanent bleachers, lights, concessions, bathrooms, parking and three other fields. The remaining 12 fields will be on surrounding acreage zoned as open space. The complex is scheduled to open this time next year.
City Attorney Ed Rutan repeatedly used the real-estate axiom "Location, location, location," noting the area already is home to a model-airplane park and an adjacent off-road vehicle track. "It's been damaged," he told the judge. "This is not a pristine strand of virgin redwoods."
Rutan said the city will comply with whatever wetlands conditions are placed on the building permit by the Army Corp of Engineers.
Mayor Ralph Becker's chief of staff, David Everitt, said the complex — it is seven years in the making — has been vetted through a plentiful public process.
"The soccer complex reflects the will of the community," Everitt said. "Our legal team was very confident."
Even so, a network lawsuit challenging the rezoning of the 30 acres still is pending.
So what's next? The conservation group had said other lawsuits are possible. In the wake of Wednesday's defeat, Salt said that is unclear.
Former City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, a plaintiff in the case, says she counted nine city attorneys at the hearing. To continue to fight City Hall, she said, is "very expensive."