A popular horse trail in Salt Lake County will remain under the control of Sandy.
The Salt Lake County Council will not return part of Dimple Dell canyon to the unincorporated White City, which is split by the canyon and is unable to form a township because of the division.
The annexation case is a long-standing dispute but has been languishing for years with the county's boundary commission. Previously, it was sent back to the county for further review by Utah's 3rd District Court after it was challenged by the White City Water District, which owns five wells within the canyons.
At a recent meeting, councilman Joe Hatch, hoping to resolve the dispute, suggested that the council simply de-annex the north third of the canyon, which would make the two halves of White City, an unincorporated island within Sandy, contiguous and open the door for the creation of a township.
"It would give back the community their identity and give them a chance to become a township," Hatch said. "That's what they really want. They want to remain an island."
Most council members, while supporting the idea that White City should become a township, said that taking away any portion of the park would hurt its users because Sandy would do a better job maintaining the trails than two separate government entities.
Councilman Randy Horiuchi, who was a member of the county commission that approved the original annexation eight years ago, said that they gave the park to Sandy because they wanted to see it developed as the important regional hiking and horseback riding destination it is today.
"We knew that Dimple Dell was going to be the jewel of the valley," he said. "In order to do this thing right, it would take revenue, and the only way to get that was find other partners. Sandy was that partner."
Instead of simply returning enough the park to White City to allow them create a township and to settle the long-standing dispute, the council may look to the Utah Legislature for a change in the township law.
Regardless of whether White City could become a township, Councilman Marv Hendrickson doubted that the issue of White City would ever really be settled.
"If you confronted most White City residents about where they lived, they would tell you Sandy," he said. "This is an ongoing feud that will be continued by the vocal minority."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com