Keck announced his resignation this week, opting for a position within Wadsworth Development Co., a construction and retail-business builder based in the booming south Salt Lake Valley city.

His reason for the change: time.

Keck has married since arriving in Draper and now has a 2-year-old daughter. He also works with teens in the Methodist Church. Long work hours have been carving into his family and church life.

"A lot of 60 to 65 hour workweeks," he said Thursday. "It's time to improve our quality of life."

The 35-year-old official came to Draper more than six years ago from Ohio. He was hired as assistant city manager before becoming Draper's community and economic development director and, for the past three years, its city manager.

"For a young man, he's done a superb job," said Mayor Darrell Smith, adding that the city plans to launch a national search for a replacement.

During Keck's tenure, the city's population has continued to mushroom. It now has more than 31,000 residents. With a surge in commercial development, retail has followed rooftops.

Draper also created its own police force. Residents approved a bond to protect 1,035 acres in Corner Canyon from being gobbled up by builders.

About the time Keck arrived, the 1,600-acre South Mountain development was stalled because the city couldn't keep pace with construction demands. The project has been before judges repeatedly and returned to a courtroom in June, when South Mountain LC sued the city, alleging permit delays, shoddy roadwork and unfairly strict rules. That case is still pending.

"Those battles were extremely difficult," Keck said. "The community is better for it."

Developers aren't the only ones who have criticized the city during Keck's tenure. Residents have their gripes, too. The most recent: The battle over a water company's plans to bury a 5-foot-wide aqueduct in an out-of-use canal. On top of that, the city plans to build a trail and a storm-drain system. Some residents believe the city and the water company are trampling their property rights and due-process guarantees.

And some believe Keck could have done more for them.

"Eric was very inefficient and ineffective," said Loraine Sundquist, one of the plaintiffs in the aqueduct case. "He would make promises and wouldn't follow through."

Keck maintains he is leaving a city that now is more prepared to respond to concerns from residents and developers.

"We've really changed the city."

jsantini@sltrib.com