Draper developer did not consult state department before building on landslide-prone soil

The Hidden Canyon Hills neighborhood in Draper is faced with the aftermath of a landslide that destroyed two homes, and now they are grappling with the next steps to take.

Ben Erickson, a senior geologist at Utah’s Department of Natural Resources, explained that the landslide was a direct outcome of the unusually wet winter we faced and the snow melting.

“Water is the issue that were dealing with,” he said, “we’re getting out of an equilibrium for certain slopes so that’s what we're seeing now.”

While it's not expected to happen, he said there could even be another landslide here because of how rare the season was.

_______________
Hit the subscribe button to stay up-to-date on the latest news, and turn on the notifications to get alerted when the big stories break as we bring them to you live!

Follow KUTV 2News on our other social media pages for more photos, videos and reports:
Twitter: @kutv2news
Instagram: @kutv2news
TikTok: @kutv2news

Call the Newsroom: 801.839.1234
_______________
KUTV is a Utah-based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. Sinclair owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to nearly 200 television stations in 86 markets. Sinclair's television group reaches close to 40% of US television households and includes FOX, ABC, MyTV, CW, CBS, NBC, Univision and Azteca affiliates.

#kutv #saltlakecity #news #utah

[davidmiller]

Permits to build should never have been granted.

[Bob-cjzm]

I have never been more grateful to live in an old house. New builds are a huge gamble in Utah. So many stories about shady developers and poor building practices. I’ll take my 1957 brick shack any day!

[smahmood]

Unfortunately, nobody ‘knew’ because they’re pleading ignorance. Both the county and the developers are at fault.

[ryansmiley]

The builders caused this not snow melt. They put the fill there.

[apolloomd]

'Edge' Homes is an understatement.

[cdawg]

Notice how the fingers are starting to point. The State said the developer didnt use their services. The developer said they used a private geo engineer. The news lady said the homeowner could be liable . Bottom line is the dude that did the fill on those particular lots wasnt mentioned. The last person in the line up that shouldnt be liable is the homeowner.

[ralphjessee]

A look at the lay of the land shows they added significant new material to the grade to build the streets and these houses. Look where the ridge intersects the swale that has now slid.

[sagecreekwitt]

Where else in Utah can you dig down 20' in straight dirt with no large rocks? It's obviously material that's slid down not long ago. The developer knew this. These guys only care about money. The homeowners need to sue the developer and the city. If they're (the city) going to harass and charge you to get a permit to build, then they become somewhat liable for a reasonable degree of safety and stability of the structure. They can't have it both ways.

[TheBandit]

I recently had a garage built. I had to hire an engineer and have a soils test done. Wasn't cheap. Maybe this is why.

[Iamthatmike]

This isn't true. The people were evacuated from their houses in October, well before the wet winter. The landslide was the result of failed terracing of the hillside. Either it was engineered incorrectly or the builders didn't do it properly.

[CaptApple]

Man, I've watched like 50 news reports on this event and not one of the EXPERTS has mentioned the actual cause. They all talk like this is naturally deposited sediment in the mountains subject to shifting at any time. Nope. A quick look at the topo map for that area before the homes were built shows that these two homes in particular are sited directly on a hillside wash that was apparently filled in by the developers so it made a level surface for the homes and street in front. I'd guess insufficient compacting of the fill dirt and insufficient drainage was what did for these homes. An engineering failure on the part of the builders. Not nature.

[edwardantrobusjr]

I grew up in a 120+ year old house in the 60's & 70's. It's still standing tall. I guess Edge didn't build it...

[waynetyson]

It appears that the "structural" fill at Draper may have included some "retaining" walls as part of the design. This strikes me as odd, particularly as it appears from available photos that they were built on deep "footings" of even depth and not necessarily on competent rock. Also, I can't imagine why such walls would be allowed to protrude above grade, entrapping water, especially on what may be homogeneous, well-sorted volcanic ash (?) deposits with which it would seem to be difficult to achieve and maintain structural specifications. I can't help but wonder what kind of percolation tests one would get. On a structural fill, the perc should be extremely slow. Why the walls in the first place? Did the engineers realize the fill would obey gravity without them? How were they determined to be adequate? Why build several walls? What kind of professional state license did the engineer have?

[mnmdisney]

Same thing here in Napa CA. We are surrounded by hills that slide, yet people built and now they are fighting the slide issue.

[BigBadJohnDiesel]

The mortgages on these homes had better be abolished!

[trustmemysonisadoctor]

There are some places that should not be built on.

[AB-vcox]

It's just standard operating procedure for developers. Buyer beware. Potential buyers need to do their own research.
edit: old topographic maps and aerial photographs are a good start, often reveal pre existing conditions that should have been but were not taken into consideration and simply buried.

[catherinebullock]

Why did planning and zoning not require the survey?

[rrmackay]

The real question is what service did they use and did the city approve the plan ?

[rneidermyer]

This collapse is directly related to the retaining walls below the house. That is where the failure is.