"John did a good job, and we appreciate what he did, but it was a joint decision between him, myself and the City Council that he step down," said Draper Mayor Darrell Smith, pointing out that he and Hendrickson are good friends.

Hendrickson, in his early 60s, was hired at an annual base salary of $109,616 after a five-month search.

"He worked hard and cared about the community," said Councilman Bill Colbert. "There are no hard feelings, and we wish him success."

Smith said that the city has not yet launched a search for Hendrickson's successor.

"I'll meet with the City Council Tuesday to decide the timeline on hiring his replacement," Smith said.

Attempts to reach Hendrickson Monday were unsuccessful.

Hendrickson graduated from Holladay's Olympus High School, earned a master's in public administration from Brigham Young University and worked in Idaho and Wyoming - as well as the Utah communities of Payson, Cedar City and North Ogden.

Before coming to Draper, Hendrickson served as city manager for La Habra Heights, Calif., a small rural community southeast of Los Angeles.

Like Draper, La Habra Heights faced significant hillside development.

Draper's massive SunCrest development along Traverse Ridge now features 700 homes, with a potential of 3,800 at build-out. Since 2000, Draper's population mushroomed from 25,000 to 35,000 residents.

The southeast Salt Lake Valley community also is attracting big-name retail development.

The Swedish superstore IKEA will open its first Utah outlet in Draper in spring 2007.

"The pressures that come with a rapidly growing community - sometimes there's more to do than one might expect," Mayor Smith said, declining to elaborate further on Hendrickson's exit from the job.

cmckitrick@sltrib.com