This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
PROVO - A handful of pricey homes high on the northernmost end of Provo's east bench sit empty.
The view of the valley and Utah Lake cannot be beat from their perch on Mile High Drive. But joy over being able to afford such panoramas has been replaced with homeowners' pain of watching their houses slowly slide down the hill.
In the past 18 months, movement in the Sherwood Hills landslide has rendered three homes along a dip of the road uninhabitable, according to Francis Ashland, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey.
"The Sherwood Hills landslide never stops; it's continuously moving," Ashland said. "Even in a dry year, there is an average of seven utility disconnects up in the area near Mile High Drive."
Slight movement is nothing new - geologists say there has been motion for 25 years in the area - but the more devastating effects to homes have been on the increase since the wet winter of 2005.
At least four homes are now empty on or near Mile High Drive, and four more in the area have "For Sale" signs in their front yards.
Two homes have even been condemned - and subsequently demolished.
"It's kind of a sad deal," said Mike Miller, whose former house at 4596 Mile High Drive now has a big crack creeping up the southeast wall.
Miller and his family moved out of the house five years ago, before things started moving. While living there, he started to encounter problems and had an engineer take a look.
The diagnosis: expansive clays in the foundation. But the biggest problem in the area, he says, is water.
Ashland agrees.
The state geologist said the ground's water buildup is higher than it has ever been. Making matters worse, the hillside sits on a layer of shale that acts as a slippery slope. The more waterlogged the ground gets, the more it slides - at least an inch a year, sometimes more.
Police tape now surrounds portions of Miller's empty house. The house next door is abandoned, too. Across the street and to the south, large cracks snake up the reddish-brown brick sides of yet another deserted home.
Mile High Drive itself is cut up as well, the result of a recent repair job on the storm drain and sewer lines underneath that were damaged by movement. Provo City Engineer Nick Jones said the city has twice rebuilt portions of the road.
"People will sacrifice anything for a lot with a view," Jones said. "People are very insistent in this area."
Jones said there has been no new building in the immediate area since 1999, when the city finished a $300,000 study to define the slide location.
He said new construction still is allowed, but anyone who wants to build must first prove there is no movement on their lot and, second, present a strong engineering design that can handle the forces of nature.
"We try to protect people from themselves," Jones said.
Joseph Ollivier's home at 4645 Mile High Drive is an example of the specialized engineering required.
His house - just north of the seriously affected area - sits on steel pilings and is secured to the hillside with steel helical piers.
Ollivier has been in the home for 14 years without any problems. He says there are other areas of Provo that are much more dangerous for home building.
"Most of the problems can be dealt with with good engineering," Ollivier said. "[The sliding] certainly hasn't helped property values."