Hendrickson, 61, was offered the job late Tuesday after the City Council approved his employment contract

"Our city is still a fast-growing community with a lot of good things to come," said Mayor Darrell Smith. "We need a person who is a visionary and can manage [fast growth]."

Hendrickson is both of those, Smith said, adding his current job shows it.

Hendrickson, who begins the Draper job on Jan. 24, is city manager of La Habra Heights, Calif. - a community of about 5,700 residents located about 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. According to its Web site, La Habra Heights was founded to "preserve an entirely residential, rural atmosphere."

In recent years, Smith said, that community has faced growth focused on its hillsides.

"We like the fact that he had experience with hillside development," said Smith, whose community is rapidly expanding onto the southern Salt Lake Valley's east bench.

Hendrickson replaces Eric Deck, who resigned in August to take a position with a private development firm. According to his employment agreement, Henrickson's annual base salary is set at $109,616.

City officials interviewed six finalists before paring the group to Hendrickson and one other candidate.

For Hendrickson, Draper is an ideal fit.

"[Draper] can be one of the premier cities in Utah," he said. "It has a lot of potential," he said Wednesday.

With big development coming to Draper in the 1990s - its population grew nearly 236 percent during the decade - the city now has an estimated 35,000 residents. And retailers - from The Boyer Co.'s Draper Peaks shopping center to Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA - are quickly building the city's tax base.

Hendrickson also liked the lure of Utah.

He graduated from Olympus High School in Holladay. His father worked for the U.S. Interior Department and took the family out of Utah. Hendrickson returned to earn a master's in public administration from Brigham Young University.

He worked for about five years in Idaho and Wyoming before returning to the Beehive State for 10 years. He worked for Payson, Cedar City and North Ogden. The last 15 years, Hendrickson has been employed by California communities.

With history and family ties in Utah - three of seven children and four brothers live here - he is happy to return.

"It sort of like coming back home."

jsantini@sltrib.com