More than 100 acres on Tooele’s east bench will be added to the city’s open space under an agreement approved by the Tooele City Council at its Sept. 16 meeting. The agreement also settles development and water rights issues with the property owners that go back as far as 37 years.

The 101 acres of property is located just above the Deer Hollow development off of Skyline Drive and is currently owned by the Bevan Family Trust. The city will purchase the property, including development rights, for $1.5 million. The property was recently appraised for $2.9 million.

“We not only gained a beautiful asset to the city,” said Tooele City Mayor Patrick Dunlavy, “we also settled a long-standing claim by the property owners.”

As far back as 1972, according to the agreement, the city and the property owners entered into written and oral agreements regarding water rights and development of the property. As recently as December 2000, the city council passed a resolution allowing the mayor to sign an annexation and development agreement, which was never signed by representatives of the trust that owned the property.

The city and the trust worked unsuccessfully between 2000 and 2007 to resolve issues surrounding the annexation agreement, according to Dunlavy.

The city council in 2002 reexamined their position on building on the east bench and took the position that it wanted to preserve the hillside as a natural asset for the entire community to enjoy, said Roger Baker, Tooele City attorney.

The current agreement, approved by the city council last week, also calls for the city to issue the Bevan Family Trust a water certificate for 111 residential culinary water connections. The city has agreed to help the Bevan Family Trust sell those water connections at the current value of $15,000 each for the next three years.

The $1.5 million for the property will come from water impact fees and water enterprise funds as the property also currently has a city water tank, chlorinating treatment building, pipelines and power lines, according to Paul Hansen, Tooele City contract engineer.

When it came to a vote at the council meeting to approve the agreement, Tooele City Councilman Mike Johnson was the only vote against the agreement.

“It is not that I don’t approve of what you are trying to do,” Johnson said. “I just find this agreement too generous.”

“Our mountain skyline is an important part of our community,” Dunlavy said. “Our natural beauty is one of the attractions of our city.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com