The approval allows Keystone Construction, which is in a contractual agreement with the landowner to buy the property, to build 53 single-family lots upon the land.

The decision came after months of discourse across social media and in public comment periods at city meetings regarding the fate of the land that has operated as an agri-entertainment property the last 10 years.

City Council members grappled with the rights of the property owners and demand for housing versus the desire to preserve open land and create a buffer between housing and the railroad tracks.

Council members Chris Killpack, Jeff Lambson, Jenn Gale and Tom Macdonald voted in favor of the rezoning change, while council members LaNae Millett and David Spencer and Mayor David Young voted against it.

“As I’ve wrestled with this I keep coming back to the issue that it’s not public land, it’s privately-owned land,” Gale said. “I’ve heard it called ‘our farmland’ as if it belongs to the public, but no matter how much we love it, sentiment can’t override ownership.”

The lengthy meeting in the city’s new council chambers saw dozens of people speak out during the public comment period, with the majority urging the council to vote against rezoning. The planning commission recommended a denial of the rezoning in March.

The three council members against the rezoning change each addressed the need for a buffer between the tracks and residential neighborhood.

Millett argued property rights only extend to the land’s current zoning rights, and Young called the decision to deny the rezoning “common sense.”

“Are we really going to use human beings as a buffer zone between the tracks, and existing neighborhoods?,” Young said. ” … Let’s remember why the OS-5 zoning was there in the first place. That farmland isn’t just nostalgic, it’s strategic. It’s a protection barrier between disruptive noise, and our residential core.”

Some in favor of rezoning the property countered that the city’s general plan has the property planned as residential, and that the infrastructure is available to make it as such.

“The property owner bought that with the understanding, and he’s now requesting a zone change that aligns with that general plan,” Gale said.

Lambson addressed the concerns of the railroad tracks, and pointed to the several residential areas living along tracks who choose to live there.

“I took the opportunity to drive through some of the residences in Orem and along where the railroad tracks go as far up into American Fork,” he said. And I thought, ‘Well if nobody wants to live here there are either going to empty houses or they’re going to be a lot of houses for sale.’ I saw one home for sale that was actually along the railroad track.”

Land surrounding the Wilkerson Farm property, including a development directly west of the farm, was previously zoned for open space and was rezoned as R-8 housing in recent years.

Lambson voiced concerns of a potential lawsuit if the council chose to treat one property owner differently than another. Millett asked Orem attorney Steve Earl during the meeting if the council should be concerned about a suit.

“The standard is the council’s decision would have to be found arbitration and capricious, which is a high legal standard,” Earl responded. “There have been lawsuits in the past where developers or owners have sued cities based on their zoning position, of course I’m in no position to say whether that might happen in this case or not.”

The Wilkerson Farm property was purchased by Pleasant Grove Tabitha’s Way co-founder Al Switzler in 2015 through his charity, Candide Charitable Enterprise. He made an agreement with the land’s tenants, Richard and Rachel Wilkerson where they could pay their lease by donating some of their crops to Tabitha’s Way.

Wilkerson’s fell into debt trying to keep the farm operating, and opened a carnival and corn maze to increase their revenue streams. Rachel Wilkerson said the carnival was successful, but there was too much overhead debt on the farming end.

Switzler said he spent much of his own money to try and keep the business afloat, and determined he was going to move on and sell the land to a developer and give the profits back to Tabitha’s Way.

The council’s decision Tuesday night paves the way for the developers to take over the land.