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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The City Council has approved a zoning change that would allow the Mount Olivet cemetery to sell 13 acres to the Rowland Hall St. Mark's private school.
The cemetery wants to sell the land to finance its ongoing operations, and the school wants the property land for a future expansion.
The land transfer still requires congressional approval to transfer the land.
When Congress created Mt. Olivet in 1909, it included a provision that the land would revert back to the federal government if it were ever used for anything other than a cemetery.
The council voted 5-2 for the rezoning Tuesday night over the objections of some neighbors.
The opponents said the school will increase traffic and reduce natural open space.
The two council members who cast the dissenting votes said the lack of natural open space in the area persuaded them to vote against the rezone.
The council required that at least one-fourth of the land be open space.
In a draft development agreement between the school and the city, the school tentatively agrees to maintain a trail easement between the cemetery and Sunnyside Avenue, and to contribute $100,000 for traffic safety.
The cemetery also has proposed to donate $250,000 to the city for future purchases of open space.
The school has not decided whether it will contribute to that sum, said Bob Steiner, a member of the school's board of trustees.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
