After placing an $895 million TRAX bond on November's ballot, the County Council today will give voters an option to approve about $48 million for open space - including regional parks and trails - across increasingly claustrophobic Salt Lake County.

A straw poll of the council Monday suggests bipartisan, nearly unanimous support for placing the second bond question on the ballot. It is the brainchild of Republican Cort Ashton, a south-valley representative who is stepping down at year's end and views green-space protection as his legacy.

"It looks like the people are seeing the wisdom of doing this," Ashton says, referring to raw data from a council-commissioned Dan Jones & Associates survey that shows solid public support.

The council may elect to trim the total, but $48 million would bump up property taxes by $9 a year on a $200,000 home.

"To put a few dollars a year into assuring we have a place for our kids to roam and park space across the valley is surely worth the investment," says Councilwoman Jenny Wilson.

Auditor Sean Thomas explains the county's Debt Review Committee greenlighted the green-space issue, noting $40 million to $50 million would not jeopardize the county's borrowing capacity.

"It wasn't too difficult to say, 'OK, this is an appropriate public service,' '' Thomas says.

If voters endorse the bond, the county would have 10 years to buy open lands and might bond for it in increments.

The council would divvy the public dollars among community parks, regional parks, raw open space and trails traversing rivers and benches.

But today's move could endanger the Living Planet Aquarium's hopes of hooking voters.

Many council members say a bond to expand light rail - new spurs would reach Draper, West Valley City, West Jordan-South Jordan and Salt Lake City International Airport - expected bonding for Zoo, Arts and Parks recreation projects and, now, open space likely will push the aquarium from the polls. A decision on the $34 million bond for the inland-sea attraction is slated for Aug. 8.

Instead, the council is expected to ask Salt Lake City's Redevelopment Agency to extend the aquarium's June 2008 deadline on holding land west of Pioneer Park until a funding solution can be brokered.

Even though open space appears poised to join TRAX - and later ZAP recreation - on the ballot, Councilman Joe Hatch warns the council cannot get greedy. Poll numbers, he says, indicate that any amount pushing $50 million "may be problematic."

"The scary part is that the public [could] decide no to everything," says Councilman Marv Hendrickson, who nonetheless supports giving voters the choice.

But Councilmen Jim Bradley and Mark Crockett insist delaying on open space could doom the county's preservation prospects.

"Land," Crockett says, "will only get more expensive in the future."

djensen@sltrib.com