It's a no-brainer; the city should act. Nevertheless, some developers strongly oppose the changes. It's easy to see why: It would undoubtedly cost them money. It would require them to foot the bill for more thorough geologic studies by qualified professionals and to shore up sites near slide-prone hillsides.
It could also prevent some development within potentially hazardous areas. That's particularly onerous to certain developers, since some prime-view lots - the most lucrative ones - lie on those slippery slopes.
Developers, especially unscrupulous ones, defend the status quo, in which they provide a cursory engineering study, get a permit to build homes on slide-prone hillsides and skedaddle before gravity starts pushing the homeowners, their homes and their belongings downhill. The city, which has been complicit because it allowed the homes to be built on unstable land, is left holding the bag and often a lawsuit.
The city's proposed ordinance changes would end this dangerously laissez faire approach, the same irresponsible philosophy that has led to the destruction of homes by landslides in at least four counties in recent years. The Draper City Council is rightly concerned, specifically, about developments in the city's hilly southeast corner, where state geologists have identified old landslides and unstable slopes that are likely to move in the future.
The huge SunCrest community, straddling the Salt Lake and Utah county line, plans to build thousands of homes there and has completed its first phases. It may seem unfair to change regulations in midstream, but home building in fast-growing Draper will not pause while city officials bone up on geology.
Some developers, like SunCrest, inevitably will be caught in the middle of a battle between the city's concern over safety and the developer's focus on the bottom line. Company spokespeople say SunCrest intends to build only where it's safe. If that is true, SunCrest should not oppose a tougher ordinance.
When the interests of profit and public safety are at odds, safety must prevail.
