Pleasant Grove approved a controversial zone change on Tuesday, opening the way for a hotly contested revitalization plan to move forward.

In January, hundreds gathered to protest the Downtown 2020 Action Plan, which many residents feared would lead to a 10-story skyscraper in one of Pleasant Grove's oldest neighborhoods.

On Tuesday, council members were at pains to point out that the zone change was separate from any future project on the land, which would have to be approved later. The 1.7-acre parcel rezoned on Tuesday is located between 100 North and 50 North and Main Street and 50 East. The land is part of a larger downtown revitalization plan.

Landowner Joe Spencer argued on Tuesday that enough is enough, saying he has been long delayed and needed the city to change the zoning now so that he can begin to find financing for a future project, whatever that project may be.

"It costs money to carry a million dollars' worth of real estate," he told council members.

After the huge public outcry against the downtown plan at January's meeting, city officials convened a special commission of residents, called the Downtown Advisory Board, to take another look at the plan and come back with recommendations. On Tuesday, two members of that commission repeatedly asked the city to delay Spencer's zone change request until the commission could complete its work in June.

In the end, council members compromised, approving the zone change for Spencer with the stipulation that it would not go into affect until July 15.

Tuesday's meeting was filled with tension. Spencer told commissioners he had purposefully demanded the zone change before the advisory board could complete its work because he wanted to "test" the city's support for his plans to revitalize the downtown area. Council members said they took offense at that.

Advisory board member Robert Williams then told council members that "it would not have taken very many phone calls to fill this place (with angry residents) and just shut it down again. Let us do what you asked us to do."

This also drew the ire of council members, who accused Williams of threatening them.

Laurel Backman Riddle, chairwoman of the Downtown Advisory Board, told council members that the meeting was not filled with protesters, as was the meeting in January, because the public trusted that the board was representing the public will and trusted the council to listen to the board. She also said it would have taken but a few phone calls to bring out the public in droves to oppose the zone change.

She conceded to council members that the advisory board was likely to recommend that the council rezone Spencer's land, but said it was too early to rezone because the city's ordinances need to be fixed first to better protect the public from unwanted development.

After Tuesday's vote, Riddle said she felt pressured by the council's decision. She said the board had made a goal to finish its work by June 5, giving time for the Planning Commission and City Council to hold public hearings and vote on any recommendations from the board before the new zoning goes into affect on July 15.

Tuesday's vote leaves little room for error or time for public debate, she said, but she believes that if the city accepts the recommendations the advisory board is now working on, and if the public can be educated about how those recommendations will protect the public will, those who protested in January will be mollified.

As presented in January, the city's revitalization plan would have permitted five-story buildings and allowed developers to seek taller buildings under special permits. Residents repeatedly said in January that developers, including Spencer, were waiting for approval of the plan so they can propose a 10-story building. The plan would also have potentially allowed Main Street to be closed from 100 North to Center Street, and 100 South to be closed from Main Street to 100 East. In addition, Main Street would potentially have become a one-way street from Center Street to 200 South, and 100 South could be made one-way from Main Street to 100 West.