PROVO -- A Rock Canyon property owner is asking Provo City for permission to operate a quarry in the heavily used recreation area, and neighbors aren't happy.

"Everyone I've talked to is very concerned, and everyone is opposed to converting a prime recreational area into a working quarry," said Sid Sandberg, Rock Canyon neighborhood chair. "No one has called me and said mining in that location is a desirable use. It may be a legal use."

Richard Davis of Springdell owns half of an 84-acre tract at the canyon's mouth -- one of many old mining claims dating back more than a century. His Feb. 2 application to Provo for a conditional use permit is the latest in a string of attempts to open the canyon to excavation spanning back to Davis's acquisition of the property in 1998. He did not return a call for comment at his home Thursday, but his agent, John Park, said Davis envisions a relatively simple operation on the canyon's south wall that would include no permanent buildings and 10 to 12 truckloads of rock coming out of the canyon per day.

"It's probably as clean as you can possibly get," he said. "Once we're done and out of there, there will be virtually no impact."

Park said it's likely the excavation would affect the canyon's recreational potential, but said the basic issue is one of balancing property rights against the neighbors' wishes. He said he plans to attend a neighborhood meeting Saturday morning to answer questions and offer the public a tour of the planned operation.

"What we want to do there is inform them of what's going on to the best of our ability," he said. "The issues are pretty straightforward."

Neighbors speak out

Others aren't so sure. Hal Farnsworth, an 87-year-old man who has lived near the mouth of the canyon for 20 years, said the quarry could have both financial and environmental implications for nearby residents.

"All of the property in this area will decrease in value by a good 25 percent," he said. "Also, it will introduce the good possibility of earthquake shocks."

Farnsworth said he is "incensed" by Davis's continued attempts to win permission for the excavation. Davis is applying to the city after the Utah Supreme Court decided in August 2008 that he couldn't seek permission from the county instead. In that case, Davis had argued that when the land changed hands from the county to the city in 1978, a failure to tax his property meant he could challenge the annexation. The court said Davis had failed to raise the issue within a four-year statute of limitations.

Barbara Taylor, another Rock Canyon-area resident, said she planned to gather all the people she could for the Saturday meeting. Davis's plan is "evil," she said.

"There's no way to bypass this guy. He will block off the only way into the canyon," she said. "We don't care who owns the land or whatever. We just want the city to have a reason to tell him no."

Taylor said she didn't anticipate a quick resolution, but that was fine by her.

"I can see this is going to drag on," she said. "We'll just keep track for the next few months or however long it takes."

Question of ownership

Davis could face legal impediments to winning a permit. The site's convoluted ownership history means his interest in the property is 50 percent of an undivided total acreage. That other half was originally held by Greg Sperry, an Arizona man who bought the property with Davis. Sperry came up $37,500 short of his half of the $150,000 purchase price a decade ago, and later transferred half his interest, or a quarter of the total, to the Stephen Kapelow family after Davis had paid the difference. Davis sued, citing intentional misrepresentation and breach of a partnership agreement, but the deal stood.

State Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, and Phil Lowry, a Provo lawyer, later established Red Slab LLC to acquire Sperry's remaining 25 percent and to protect the property from excavation. With $190,000 from the city in exchange for a conservation easement, they bought Sperry out and granted the easement. The purchase of the Kapelow interest is still tied up in court.

In the early 1970s, a young Valentine was a rock climber in the canyon. Dozens of established rock-climbing routes snake up the red cliffs that Davis would blast and remove in a quarrying operation.

Davis could face difficulties winning approval because Red Slab, which now owns 25 percent of the property, has no intent to authorize mining activities at the site. A preliminary city response to Davis's application dated Feb. 18 asks the applicant to also produce documentation saying that Red Slab supports the request.

"In the title report submitted as part of your application materials, it identifies Red Slab LLC as having an undivided 1/4 interest in the property in question," wrote Nathan Murray, a planning staff member in the city's Office of Community Development. "Please submit a signed application form, or a letter, from Red Slab LLC also requesting approval of mining activities at the site."

That isn't going to happen, Valentine said. He said resolution could be reached through the ongoing lawsuit by way of a settlement, but nothing has been agreed upon yet.

"We have made several attempts to settle this case and we're always hopeful that a settlement can be reached," he said. "There's actually pending offers that are being exchanged even now."

Valentine declined to say whether those offers included Davis selling or giving up his interest in the property. He said he plans to attend the Saturday meeting -- not to offer any presentation, but as an "interested person."

IF YOU GO

Rock Canyon and Oak Hills neighborhood meeting

What: Discussion of Richard Davis's application for a conditional use permit to operate a quarry in Rock Canyon

Where: Rock Canyon Park, 2620 N. 1200 East, pavilion 4

When: 8 a.m. Saturday

• Ace Stryker can be reached at astryker@heraldextra.com.