Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson says he will no longer negotiate to resolve a lawsuit over the Legacy Highway unless Gov. Mike Leavitt vetoes a bill targeting Legacy opponents.
SB183 allows the state and businesses to recover damages if parties filing lawsuits against them lose their cases and the court rules the litigation was brought improperly.
That bill, passed by the 2002 Legislature and awaiting Leavitt's signature, is aimed at environmental lawsuits in general. But the clear intention is to thwart Legacy opponents who sued last year to stop construction of the 14-mile, $451 million Davis County highway.
Anderson, who is one of those opponents, issued a statement at the end of the 2002 legislative session saying the passage of SB183 is "blatantly unconstitutional" and would "certainly be overturned when we challenge it in court, wasting even more taxpayer dollars in litigation costs."
Anderson also said the bill, if not vetoed, "will also result in a termination of settlement negotiations, which we believe have been productive and quite promising."
But the mayor's spokesman acknowledged today that negotiations between the state and other parties in the suit may continue without Anderson.
"The mayor has been on the record multiple times saying he will not negotiate with a gun to his head, and (the bill's sponsor, Sen.) Terry Spencer made it very clear he wanted this bill to be the gun to our head," said Josh Ewing, the mayor's communications director.
"We want to negotiate in good faith. Until we take care of this bill, it's not an atmosphere where things can really get done."
Carlos Braceras, deputy director of the Utah Department of Transportation, said Anderson's presence would be missed but the talks will go on.
"From our perspective, (the bill) doesn't have any impact on the discussions or negotiations," Braceras said Friday. "Reading the reaction of Mayor Anderson, it does sound like he's been affected by it, which is unfortunate.
"The mayor brings a lot of energy and has really tried hard, I believe," in participating in the negotiations.
The Sierra Club, one of the Legacy Highway's chief foes, is willing to keep communication lines open as well.
But Marc Heileson, of the Sierra Club's Utah Chapter, said negotiations are unlikely to occur within the next two weeks regardless of what happens with SB183. That's because of a looming March 20 court date in Denver before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which granted a temporary injunction Nov. 16 to halt construction.
Negotiations could continue after that date, Heileson said, while the panel of judges mulls over its decision based on the March 20 hearing.
"We feel zero, maybe less than zero, threat from this bill," Heileson said. "It's obviously unconstitutional. . . . We're not even paying attention to it."
Leavitt plans to. The governor's spokeswoman, Natalie Gochnour, said Leavitt wants to conduct his own review of the bill's constitutionality before deciding whether to sign it into law, allow it to become law without his signature or veto it.
"It has long-term ramifications that need to be considered. It's more than just a bill on Legacy," Gochnour said.
Leavitt has until midnight March 26 to decide the bill's fate.
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