06-25-2004, 09:03 PM
[#660000][size 5]New homes soon may rise near Spanish Fork River[/size][/#660000]
![[Image: xclear.gif]](http://deseretnews.com/i/xclear.gif)
[font "Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"][size 4]City reverses itself; some fear possible floods[/size][/font]
[font "Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"]By [url "http://deseretnews.com/dn/staff/card/1,1228,65,00.html"][#0000ff]Rodger L. Hardy[/#0000ff][/url][/font]
[font "Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"][size 2]Deseret Morning News[/size][/font]
[font "Georgia,Verdana"][size 3] SPANISH FORK — In the next few years, posh new homes could rise where the Spanish Fork River once ran over its banks.
![[Image: 1870800.jpg]](http://deseretnews.com/photos/1870800.jpg)
[font "Geneva,MS Sans Serif,Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"][#4d303e][size 2]A subdivision is planned for land to the left of this new development. The area flooded two decades ago. [/size][/#4d303e][/font]
[font "Georgia,Geneva,MS Sans Serif,Helvetica,Arial"][#4d303e][size 1]Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News[/size][/#4d303e][/font] Old-timers recall the flood of 1983, when the torrent chewed away at the riverbank and swallowed the back yards of some residences. Some residents in the rural Leland area of the city have since dumped rip-rap along the river in an effort to make sure it stays within its bounds, but protecting the river banks hasn't been a priority since the drought began, says Spanish Fork Mayor Dale Barney.
"If we get a normal year, we're going to be in trouble all up and down the Spanish Fork River," Barney said.
While some who live along the river still fear its power, developers are quickly turning the fertile ground — that has stayed dry for two decades — into new homes. A pair of new subdivisions are under way, and a third will soon join them. It took two tries and a change of heart by one city councilman, but on Tuesday developer Richard Mendenhall received the city's approval to go ahead with his 80-acre River Cove subdivision near the city's new sports park.
City Councilman Seth Sorensen said his concerns about protecting private property rights was the reason behind his change of heart on the rezoning and development plan for the 205-home subdivision.
"I wouldn't want someone telling me what I could do with my property," Sorensen said.
The site is has a history of flooding — although one resident disputed reports that it was under water during the last major flood 21 years ago. Until 1998 the river bank was part of a federally designated flood zone. The area was recently removed from the zone after an engineer hired by Mendenhall submitted a request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reduce the zone based on changes in river control mechanisms upstream that followed the 1983 flooding.
The City Council on May 11 rejected the plan on a 3-2 vote. Tuesday's vote was 3-1 in favor.
Councilman Chris Wadsworth, who opposed the project in the initial vote, was absent. Wadsworth later told the Deseret Morning News he once favored the project but switched his support because the study that led to FEMA reducing the flood plain was never submitted to the City Council.
"We . . . weren't getting all the information," he said.
Leland residents were clearly agitated, wondering why the issue was brought up again, just weeks after it was rejected.
Residents are concerned over the flood of cars and trucks the new development will bring to the narrow street where many of them live, Lisa Olson said.
They fear that 900 South, currently a 20-foot wide country road, will have to be widened by another 40 feet, which will eat away at the existing front yards of many homes.
Kevin Baadsgaard said he doesn't want to see 900 South, an east-west road, turned into a major thoroughfare. He said it would be better to route the traffic onto Del Monte Road on the development's southeast side, a road which has already been widened. There is momentum to use 900 South, however, because it would be easier for the developer and provides a straight shot to I-15.
As part of the approval, the council required Mendenhall to build a bridge that will connect on the east to a yet-to-be-built street that will run past the city's new sports park and connect to Volunteer Lane, which in turn intersects with Main Street. The bridge will connect on the west to a new street that will run through the subdivision and connect to 900 South, offering a new route to I-15.
"Somebody (in the city) wants that road connected," Baadsgaard said.[/size][/font]
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[font "Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"][size 4]City reverses itself; some fear possible floods[/size][/font]
[font "Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"]By [url "http://deseretnews.com/dn/staff/card/1,1228,65,00.html"][#0000ff]Rodger L. Hardy[/#0000ff][/url][/font]
[font "Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"][size 2]Deseret Morning News[/size][/font]
[font "Georgia,Verdana"][size 3] SPANISH FORK — In the next few years, posh new homes could rise where the Spanish Fork River once ran over its banks.
[font "Geneva,MS Sans Serif,Verdana,Helvetica,Arial"][#4d303e][size 2]A subdivision is planned for land to the left of this new development. The area flooded two decades ago. [/size][/#4d303e][/font]
[font "Georgia,Geneva,MS Sans Serif,Helvetica,Arial"][#4d303e][size 1]Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News[/size][/#4d303e][/font] Old-timers recall the flood of 1983, when the torrent chewed away at the riverbank and swallowed the back yards of some residences. Some residents in the rural Leland area of the city have since dumped rip-rap along the river in an effort to make sure it stays within its bounds, but protecting the river banks hasn't been a priority since the drought began, says Spanish Fork Mayor Dale Barney.
"If we get a normal year, we're going to be in trouble all up and down the Spanish Fork River," Barney said.
While some who live along the river still fear its power, developers are quickly turning the fertile ground — that has stayed dry for two decades — into new homes. A pair of new subdivisions are under way, and a third will soon join them. It took two tries and a change of heart by one city councilman, but on Tuesday developer Richard Mendenhall received the city's approval to go ahead with his 80-acre River Cove subdivision near the city's new sports park.
City Councilman Seth Sorensen said his concerns about protecting private property rights was the reason behind his change of heart on the rezoning and development plan for the 205-home subdivision.
"I wouldn't want someone telling me what I could do with my property," Sorensen said.
The site is has a history of flooding — although one resident disputed reports that it was under water during the last major flood 21 years ago. Until 1998 the river bank was part of a federally designated flood zone. The area was recently removed from the zone after an engineer hired by Mendenhall submitted a request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reduce the zone based on changes in river control mechanisms upstream that followed the 1983 flooding.
The City Council on May 11 rejected the plan on a 3-2 vote. Tuesday's vote was 3-1 in favor.Councilman Chris Wadsworth, who opposed the project in the initial vote, was absent. Wadsworth later told the Deseret Morning News he once favored the project but switched his support because the study that led to FEMA reducing the flood plain was never submitted to the City Council.
"We . . . weren't getting all the information," he said.
Leland residents were clearly agitated, wondering why the issue was brought up again, just weeks after it was rejected.
Residents are concerned over the flood of cars and trucks the new development will bring to the narrow street where many of them live, Lisa Olson said.
They fear that 900 South, currently a 20-foot wide country road, will have to be widened by another 40 feet, which will eat away at the existing front yards of many homes.
Kevin Baadsgaard said he doesn't want to see 900 South, an east-west road, turned into a major thoroughfare. He said it would be better to route the traffic onto Del Monte Road on the development's southeast side, a road which has already been widened. There is momentum to use 900 South, however, because it would be easier for the developer and provides a straight shot to I-15.
As part of the approval, the council required Mendenhall to build a bridge that will connect on the east to a yet-to-be-built street that will run past the city's new sports park and connect to Volunteer Lane, which in turn intersects with Main Street. The bridge will connect on the west to a new street that will run through the subdivision and connect to 900 South, offering a new route to I-15.
"Somebody (in the city) wants that road connected," Baadsgaard said.[/size][/font]
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