Neighbors who say they have been "living on the edge of a razor" for the past three years are feeling the effects of plans the University Mall announced years ago, heightened by the city's 800 East widening, said the manager of the mall.

Marilyn Mansfield, who lives at 1024 S. 750 East, told Orem city officials at a town meeting recently that she feels Woodbury Corp. and the mall are "eating them alive" as they buy up the homes in her neighborhood and "turn them into slums."Mansfield said she needs to know what the future holds for her neighbors and family. She appealed to the City Council to help forestall further encroachment and hear her pain.

Rob Kallas, University Mall manager, said nothing has changed from the plans that were announced to neighbors several years ago. He said remodeling plans - to be formally announced Thursday - do not affect what the mall has always foreseen for the 700-800 East neighborhood area.

He said the mall approached neighbors along the west side of 750 East two years ago and explained their need to expand the parking area to the east. Woodbury Corp. offered to buy the homes they needed at a fair price, said Kallas.

Some, including the Mansfields, declined to sell or named a price the corporation wasn't willing to pay, said Kallas.

"We left the door open if they changed their minds," he said. "It's still open."

At this juncture, Kallas said the mall has enough property to go ahead with its plans and is making no effort to accelerate what they've always intended to do.

"I think the city's widening of 800 East is stirring up the pot a little bit," he said. "But we demolished the last home we own in Au-gust, I think."

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The Utah Transit Authority has also started to knock down the four homes it purchased on property that the bus service is developing into a transit center one block southeast of the Mansfields' neighborhood.

Kallas said Mansfield and a few of her neighbors hired an attorney to represent them and negotiate a package price for their homes. "That forced us to not communicate with the residents directly anymore," he said.

"That's why they can say we're not talking to them. We're still interested in paying a fair market price."

The mall also interested would like to square up the parking area they plan to develop as well. "The ideal would be to go all the way to 800 East, but that was never our intent originally," said Kallas.

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