FRUIT HEIGHTS -- Approximately 30,000 cars every day zoom past several large fruit orchards on U.S. 89 here, the last remnants of a town that was founded and named 60 years ago solely for its famous cherry, peach and apple trees.
Some 90 percent of those orchards have vanished now, replaced by housing developments, as the "Heights" part of the town's name is taking over.Today there are only about 500 cherry, peach and apple trees left in some five major orchards as new homes occupy the areas where thousands of trees once flourished.
The Fruit Heights population has almost doubled in the past 18 years to an estimated 5,000, and its current annual growth rate is about 2.5 percent.
"It's still a pretty pleasant place to live," said Forest Barker, 70, a lifelong resident and former city mayor who still has a 28-acre fruit orchard.
Had residential land not been so much in demand here, Barker said, he believes Fruit Heights today would rival the famous "fruitway" south of Brigham City.
Fruit stands used to dot the sides of Fruit Heights roads, but today only a few are left, like the Glenn Manning family's "Cherry Pit."
With land going for $100,000 per acre in Fruit Heights, Planning Commission Chairwoman Eileen Moss said she believes it is hard to afford to keep fruit farming nowadays. She said the Manning orchard looks to be the only one so far that is set to continue on with the next generation.
Barker said he can remember growing up in Fruit Heights during the Depression, riding his bike past the numerous cherry orchards, dreaming of the day he would be old enough to pick them.
"Cherries were a real delicacy during the Depression," he said.
Barker said he plans to maintain his orchards as long as he is able, though he's not sure what his children will do when he's gone. He said he feels it is just plain economics that has reduced the city's number of orchards, and that trend started back in the 1940s.
He said residents could make more money working at Hill Air Force Base or other area jobs, or they could sell their land more profitably for housing developments.
"Fruit farms will disappear," he predicted.
City manager Richard Marchant said he's also pretty certain the upcoming generation will sell off all the family orchards because of economic pressures. He said making tens of thousands of dollars' profit on a fruit farm pales in comparison to selling it for perhaps millions of dollars for residential development.
Besides diminishing orchards, the increasing traffic on U.S. 89 and even the highway itself have been problems for the city.
Fruit Heights was dealt a big blow during 1948, when U.S. 89 was constructed as a two-lane road and cut the town in two. By 1960, it was enlarged to four lanes. Future plans envision it as a six-lane limited expressway.
Even today, Mayor Richard Harvey and Marchant consider the highway to be a big deal.
"It split us in half. We're still trying to recover," Harvey said.
Several new traffic signals have helped residents access either side of the city better, but the busy road carries about 40 percent as much traffic as I-15. And construction should begin this month on the $17.5 million Cherry Hill interchange on U.S. 89. Work there will continue for about 18 months.
The only real gripe Barker has is with the noise from U.S. 89. He does not believe sound walls would help alleviate the highway noise for nearby residents.
"They couldn't build them tall enough," he said. "When this town was a pup, it wasn't so noisy."
The city also has not drawn much commercial development.
Barker said he thinks that is because Kaysville has shied away from such growth, and Fruit Height has simply followed the trend.
However, two landmarks in Fruit Heights are commercial developments: the Rock Loft, a former cherry processing plant, and Cherry Hill Camping Resort.
Cherry Hill, which is often mistakenly thought to be in Kaysville, features water slides, miniature golf, batting cages and famous pies. A new outdoor swimming pool will be added next year.
And despite its challenges, Fruit Heights does maintain a country atmosphere that Marchant said is attractive to both newcomers and old-timers. People favor large lots, large homes and lots of green space.
"They always reject the idea of doing commercial rezones," Marchant said.
Harvey agrees and said people love the city's rural, laid-back atmosphere, plus its convenient location as a bedroom community.
"It's really impressive to live where you have these big mountains behind you," Harvey said.
He said the city has a high rate of voluntarism in community projects. Fruit Heights also has almost no debt and operates a conservative budget each year.
On the government front, the community has its own unique political parties, the Sagebrush and the Pinecone parties. Barker said they were started decades ago because some residents felt it was not right for residents who worked at Hill Air Force Base to belong to the Democratic or Republican parties.
As strange as it sounds, Barker said simply changing the names of the parties appeased the concerned residents.
"People just laugh their heads off about this," Barker said.