The City Council is set to be briefed today on a plan for Sandy to buy 8 acres for a park and get another 6.5 acres from the development for free. They will also be asked to approve a "letter of intent" that outlines the cost of the purchase.

What makes the move significant: It represents the first public work on the project since voters gave it a ballot-box go-ahead Nov. 8.

The entire 107-acre project had been on hold for a year as a group of residents, known as Save Our Communities (SOC), blocked the development with a referendum drive that asked voters to pick between two zoning statuses for the land.

The residents argued big-box retailers and the surrounding neighborhoods were not a good mix.

A slight majority of voters - 53 percent - disagreed with SOC and authorized The Boyer Co.'s project, which includes a Super Wal-Mart, a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, a section of housing and a row of smaller retailers and restaurants.

Wade Williams, Boyer's director of retail development, says the company plans to launch construction in early spring with the two big-box retailers wanting to be open by Christmas season next year.

Boyer should be submitting an application for final approval by the end of the year. In the meantime, the developer and the city are working out details on the land exchange.

"The city needs to purchase the land," said Randy Sant, Sandy's director of economic development. "We're still negotiating a couple of terms here."

The letter of intent set up a purchase price of $8.75 a square foot.

With the amount of land still unsettled, the city could pay between $2.8 million and $3.05 million for the land.

"We're buying it at their cost," Sant said.

The 8 acres is in the northwest corner of the property at about 9000 South and 1000 East.

The company has agreed to pay - up to a maximum of $1.3 million - for the fields, parking lots, restrooms and playground on the parcel. The city, however, gets to design the park.

The other 6.5 acres is in the southeast corner. It will connect the development and it's road system to another city-owned parcel that leads to the Sandy Amphitheater.

City funding for the purchase was set aside in the current budget.

The idea of a park was a contentious issue during the campaign season as SOC argued the company must leave the land open anyhow because it needed a storm-water detention pond. The 8-acre parcel will double as a detention area and park.

jsantini@sltrib.com