A panel evaluating the 2005 fund applicants will visit the site this week. They are making the trip at the behest of North Salt Lake, which has requested $900,000 to preserve 50 acres.

But state officials say the parcel is unlikely to qualify because the ownership and value of the land are in question.

"This isn't a tool to be used in condemning property," said John Bennett, project manager in the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. "We must be able to determine the value of the property before we give out any money."

North Salt Lake owns the property, but it is located inside Salt Lake City boundaries. The land's value is in dispute because Salt Lake City has zoned it for natural open space and claims the value is somewhere near $1 million.

North Salt Lake believes it is worth significantly more because it wants to rezone a portion of it for residential development and a cemetery.

Any chance Salt Lake City had at obtaining McAllister funds went out the window in June, when Mayor Rocky Anderson filed a condemnation order on 13 acres sitting on the northern edge of the 80-acre parcel.

Anderson defended his action in letter to Bennett.

"My only recourse to save this property is to pursue a partial condemnation and allow the court to decide the fair market value," Anderson wrote.

The mayor hoped to convince state officials to consider a request from Utah Open Lands, a nonprofit preservation group that is attempting to purchase the property from North Salt Lake.

Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County have each pledged $300,000 toward the Utah Open Lands plan. But, so far, North Salt Lake officials have rebuffed the offer because they believe the property could be worth as much as $16 million - the sum they say developers are willing to pay for the parcel.

At the same time, North Salt Lake has yet to provide McAllister officials with a property appraisal.

"I understand they are holding out because they believe it they can get control of the property, it will be worth significantly more than the sum they are requesting once it is rezoned," Bennett says. "But we can't go forward without it."

lorib@sltrib.com