Salt Lake County officials are pledging to build at least three new golf courses in coming years, without a tax increase.

And a proposed course in West Valley City, on land to be donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, suddenly has become second on the county's list of golf-course priorities."It's one that won't be expensive to us compared to the others," County Commissioner Mike Stewart said about the course, known as Lake Park, planned for a vacant area north of 3100 South between 4000 West and 4800 West.

Property Reserve Inc., a development arm of the LDS Church, wants to build a business park on the land and has offered to donate part of the land to the county for a golf course.Stewart said the commission will endorse the project formally next week.

County commissioners met with recreation officials Thursday to decide on golf-course priorities. When the county switched from Republican to Democratic majority last election, priorities also changed, and recreation officials were confused as to where to spend tax money.

One casualty of the political change is the proposed Dimple Dell course. Once one of the county's top priorities, it has fallen from the list.

The course, planned in a park along the mountainside between Sandy and the unincorporated county, had drawn protests from preservationists concerned that the park's natural beauty would be destroyed. Newly elected Democratic commissioners Randy Horiuchi and Jim Bradley decided to scrap the plan.

Stewart, a Republican, said the county can't build the Dimple Dell course anyway because it missed an opportunity to buy land there that soon will become a residential subdivision.

"For us to condemn that land now would be very difficult," Stewart said, adding he hopes the county some day will consider building a course in a different part of the park. "It may yet fall upon another commission to do that golf course."

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The county's highest priority is a golf course in Riverton. Recreation Director Glen Lu said construction on that course will begin in the spring, and golfers can begin using it in 1994.

The third priority is a proposed course on a site known as Old Mill, near Wasatch Boulevard and 6200 South.

The Old Mill and Riverton sites together will cost more than $10 million. But commissioners said they can handle the cost without asking taxpayers to help.

Commissioners also decided to begin negotiating with Sandy and South Jordan to jointly develop a course between the cities, north of 10600 South and near the Jordan River.

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