This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
North Salt Lake • No one is willing to admit their actions caused a landslide that destroyed one North Salt Lake home and damaged a tennis club nine months ago. And because of that, the land remains unstable and residents remain frustrated.
"It is just the wrong amount of snow and rain away from moving again," warned geologist Tim Thompson, addressing an overflow crowd of 150 people who attended a North Salt Lake City Council meeting Tuesday. About a half hour later, a sudden rainstorm pounded city hall, prompting some residents to roll their eyes.
Among the crowd was Paul Evans, who has lost about 60 feet of his backyard to the landslide that devastated Eaglepointe Estates. Another couple complained the slide has left their basement vulnerable to seeping groundwater.
North Salt Lake has a remediation plan ready to go and even a contractor to do the work, which would cost about $2 million. What it doesn't have is the money. The city has agreed to chip in $200,000, but the developer, Sky Properties, hasn't agreed to pay anything yet.
Mayor Len Arave said he'll negotiate with parties, including the developer, throughout this week, but the bid for the remediation plan expires May 24. If he can't secure an agreement, Arave said, he'd encourage the City Council to put a bond before voters this November, essentially shifting the burden to taxpayers.
If that happens, the city would likely sue Sky Properties to try to recover those funds.
Arave said the city "did nothing to cause the slide."
Sky Properties Vice President Scott Kjar, who addressed the gathering against the wishes of his attorneys, said his company didn't cause the slide either.
A 2003 geotechnical report commissioned by Sky Properties warned of a potential slide because of the clay bedrock.
The company issued another report in 2013 that said there were no concerns, and the city issued the building permits.
Kjar read a statement that made no reference to the soft surface near land once used as a gravel quarry. Instead he highlighted the $1 million the company has spent housing the residents who lost their homes and hiring experts to study the slide. He placed blame on the Eagleridge Tennis and Swim Club for removing part of the base of the hill, and he also suggested Questar may have some fault, as gas lines run through the area.
He said his company was still in negotiations with the city, though the tennis club has sued the developer and the city for the damage that has shut down three of its courts.
"We need to get everyone pulling in the same direction," Kjar said.
Evans, one of the affected property owners, took issue with Kjar's statement, saying he and his family watched as the land around their house shifted in late 2012 and throughout 2013. He said he warned the developer and the city and that a mitigation effort obviously failed.
"This catastrophic landslide didn't happen one morning," he said. "Many believe the developer was the predominate cause of the landslide."
Evans asked Arave if he thought Sky Properties should pay for part of the remediation.
The mayor said yes.