After obtaining an agricultural exemption from Summit County, Gillmor now is free to build barns, corrals and feeding troughs on her property adjacent to the upscale Trailside and Silver Summit neighborhoods northeast of Park City. And by state law, those farm improvements don't have to pass muster with Summit County's Planning Department.

"She had threatened once before to put in a pig farm," said Trailside resident John Tuerff. "She said, 'I'll put in a pig farm. Then I'll get you.' ”

The clash between Gillmor and the neighbors began when they objected to her proposal to build 330 houses on the tract of rolling hills between Old Ranch Road and U.S. 40.

Gillmor sued Summit County after its Planning Commission denied the plan last summer. In December, the County Commission amended the Snyderville Basin Land Development Code and effectively down-zoned Gillmor's property to one unit per 20 acres.

This week, residents in Trailside and Silver Summit are atwitter after crews graded a dozen acres on Gillmor's property along Silver Summit Parkway. And county officials appear a bit confused. No one knows exactly what to expect from the widow of Frank Gillmor, whose forebears acquired the land in 1927.

"She could graze sheep or whatever," County Engineer Derrick Radke said. "She could raise pigs or chickens or turkeys."

But County Planner Nora Shepard said there may be legal restrictions against "industrial" agricultural operations, such as high-density chicken or poultry farms.

"We're really not sure. We'll have to look at the statute," Shepard said. "We have not really had anyone apply for an agricultural exemption near a neighborhood."

Gillmor could not be reached Wednesday for comment. But her attorney, Bruce Baird, said his client merely was trying to protect her property rights. If the neighbors don't like it, he said, they have only themselves to blame.

"Be careful what you wish for," he said. "Because it might come true."

During public hearings last summer, some residents said the area should remain open space. Baird said that was disingenuous coming from residents whose neighborhood sprang up during the past decade or so.

"If they want the property to be open space, they should pay fair-market value for it," he said. "If they want to see the definition of 'hypocrite,' they should look in the mirror."

Many residents have joked that they would prefer a farm to a housing development, Debbie Drain said. "[But] most of us are city folks and don't know what a hog farm entails. We really don't know about smells and what's involved with an agricultural venture."

Tuerff said Gillmor may be just playing games with her Trailside and Silver Summit neighbors, as well as county officials, to gain leverage in her legal action. "It's hard to understand what her plans are," he said. "It's all a little suspect."

csmart@sltrib.com