That threat, and concern for future homeowners' safety, are rightly causing the Draper City Council to withhold approval for more homes until it can get more definitive information about this slippery issue. That shows sound common sense, especially in light of devastating landslides the past two years in Cedar Hills, Provo and Morgan County.

Hamlet Homes is threatening a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over Draper's hesitancy. The developer's attorney says it has done its due diligence about potential dangers and should be allowed to move ahead with 700 more homes because the City Council gave preliminary approval in 2004 and the planning board signed off last fall.

But reports from the Utah Geological Survey have altered the picture. The Stoneleigh Heights portion of the massive Suncrest development is located on an old landslide area, which the UGS says could move again. Agency senior geologist Francis Ashland said that nearly all landslides in the past 20 years have been at the sites of pre-existing slides. A planned water-retention basin made of fill dirt atop unstable land would just enhance the danger of instability.

When UGS scientists who study landslides for a living say it could happen here, city officials are wise to hold the high ground and call a halt to the project.

If Provo officials had been as cautious years ago, at least three expensive homes on Mile High Drive might never have been built. Those homes, constructed on the Sherwood Hills Landslide, are slowly sliding down the hill, and have been abandoned.

Hamlet Homes stands to lose millions if the company is not allowed to complete its subdivision. But preventing the possible financial ruin of future homeowners is the city's first responsibility.

Draper can better deal with a possible lawsuit now than with future legal repercussions if it permits hundreds of homes to be built on unstable land. Not to mention the city's moral duty to protect its residents.