For years, Boulder County officials have coveted the top of Big Horn Mountain in Sunshine Canyon as open space.

But a complicated mix of entangled private properties and varying personal interests has prevented negotiations from getting anywhere.

Now, with a lawsuit between the county and several Big Horn landowners set for trial July 26, an open space purchase is being discussed as a settlement. And the outcome may affect how much the county pays for roughly 80 nearby acres of Bureau of Land Management property it would like to combine into a future park.

The lawsuit in question pits a handful of Big Horn landowners against the county and landowner Doug Parker.

The case began in 1996, when landowner Mark Heath sought approval to use an old road for access to the Big Horn property where he wants to build a house. Because the road crosses Parker's and others' properties, Heath took legal action to secure access to his land.

Heath eventually reached an agreement with all the owners except Parker, who argued that the road wasn't public and Heath could not cross. When Boulder County officials learned of the dispute, they joined the case. The county sided with Parker, contending that the road was not public.

"We really aren't out there looking for additional road mileage," County Attorney Larry Hoyt said.

Heath's attorney, Karl Anuta, said the definition of a "public road" is central to the case.

"Our concept of a public road is simply a road the public can travel upon," Anuta said. "The county's concept has been a road the county has to maintain."

But there are other issues that have county officials interested in settling the dispute on Big Horn.

In an effort to end the case, the landowners have offered to sell their roughly 80 acres of land to the county as open space. Combined with an adjacent 80 acres of BLM land near the top of the mountain, the area could potentially serve as a park.

If county officials bought the private Big Horn properties as open space, the county might also be eligible to acquire the nearby BLM property for free under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act of 1954. That act allows the BLM to convey land to local governments if the land is opened for public use.

To be eligible for the donation, the county would need to meet various criteria, such as providing adequate access to the BLM property. The county could provide that by acquiring enough private land on Big Horn to construct a trail connecting to the BLM land, Commissioner Ron Stewart said.

So far, negotiations have not produced results.

Heath said he and other landowners have not been satisfied with the roughly $1 million offer made by the county for the area properties. He said he and the other property owners offered a fair price to the county to end the dispute.

"They could have had a deal up there," he said.

Stewart did not offer specifics about the county's offer but said the county has acted in good faith in the negotiations.

"We're not going to pay beyond what we see is a reasonable price," he said.

Because negotiations have not yielded results, the county is moving ahead with a plan to acquire the adjacent BLM land at a "fair market value" to be determined by an appraiser.

Whether the county eventually buys the BLM land at fair market value or seeks it for free as "recreation and public purpose," Stewart said he will continue to negotiate for the private Big Horn properties before the Heath case goes to court later this month.

"In either scenario, it's advantageous to have some of the private parcels purchased," he said.