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Posted: 2:59 PM- Developers scrambling to stake their claims for Draper's million-dollar views are flocking to the city's steep hilltops. But some City Council members, worried about growing concerns over landslides, are running to the books to rewrite the rules.
Some worry that home building in Salt Lake Valley's southeast end is headed down a slippery slope. They want to slow the rush on Draper's pristine slopes with a new rule that would tighten restrictions on exactly where and how development could occur to protect residents' health and safety.
But some developers, who already have signed on to agreements with the city, say the council might violate contracts if it adds potentially pricey requirements.
In question: a geologic-hazards ordinance that would force developers to increase coordination with the city on more-intense studies - an effort to reduce the odds that landslides, or other disasters, would harm human life or property.
Councilman Paul Edwards, who helped draft the proposed ordinance, called it "the best in the state, if not in a much wider region." He said it would apply to all developers, adding that the city should be protected by the document's health and safety clauses.
"We want something to protect the citizens and the city from future liability if there are landslides," Edwards said. "We're trying to find a way to educate people before they buy or build a home."
Councilman Bill Colbert said he expects Draper's proposed guideline to become a statewide model to avoid repeats of slides that have destroyed homes in Provo, North Salt Lake, Layton, Cedar Hills, South Weber, Farmington, Mountain Green and Thistle. He added that developers are often long gone when natural disasters come, leaving the city and taxpayers with the bill.
But Councilmen Pete Larkin and Jeff Stenquist haven't locked in their votes. They said the proposed ordinance needs more work to cover all sides.
Dallas-based TerraBrook is already well into developing the master-planned SunCrest community, which straddles Salt Lake and Utah counties. Its attorney, Bruce Baird, said Draper should have included developers earlier in the drafting process.
"SunCrest intends to develop only those areas that can be shown to be safe, and it has spent more money ensuring that than in any other development in the history of the State of Utah - by far," Baird said, adding that the developer has spent "many millions of dollars."
Colbert said the tougher city standards are a product of an increased city learning curve.
"For years, cars didn't have seat belts and air bags," Colbert said. "But we learn, we proceed, and we make it a safer world."
And if developers sue over the brewing battle, and a court ultimately forces the city to allow development, Colbert said he will rest easy knowing the city tried.
"Maybe we name the [land]slides after the judge who rules, or the developer," Colbert said. "Then, in 20 years they can have their legacy, and I'll say that I did what I could."
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