LEHI — Mayor Ken Greenwood can remember fishing for carp in the flooded land where homes are going to go in the newly approved North Lake subdivision.

He wants potential buyers to understand the risks they're taking to buy in the area just north of an unpredictable Utah Lake.

Developers of the project say the homes will be above the 4,495-foot elevation line and be just fine.

"They'll be able to stand and fish off of their back porch," Greenwood told the audience last week as developers came in asking for approval for the additional plats for a 300-home subdivision to be located at approximately 1900 S. 500 West.

"We need to clearly identify this as a potential flood area so people know," said the mayor. "We don't want a future city council to get caught like we did with the Sunset neighborhood. I would have loved to have had something in writing the night the Sunset people were here."

Residents in the Sunset North development came in demanding redress in 1999 after water seeped into their basements and, in some cases, flowed through below-ground-floor rooms. When city officials tried to set up a special improvement district assessing residents up to $800,000 for hillside drains to fix the problems, public hearings became heated and unfriendly.

"The lake has come up three times in my lifetime, and I expect it will again," Greenwood said. "I want more warning for those who buy than just saying no basements are allowed. I would love to be so blunt so it would be unmistakable."

Councilman Carl Mellor said buyers must understand that if they get flooded, it's their problem and not the city's.

He said having the development near the lake guarantees Lehi city permanent and ongoing access to the lake, which is critical.

Councilman Johnny Barnes said to call the area a 100-year flood plain — meaning there's a potential for flooding every 100 years or so — is not truly accurate. "There has been water there three times in 60 years," he said.

Councilman Rod Olsen said the flood risk is exactly why he voted against the residential project when it first came in for consideration.

A project engineer for LEI Engineering said the Army Corps of Engineers has not designated the property as a flood zone and that such information should be printed on the plats along with the council warning.

The city engineer, Lorin Powell, said there's been concern since "Day One" over the project.

"Not all of the homes are south of the road (1900 South), only about half," Powell said. "With those, we don't have the same concerns."

Powell said a channel has been dredged in the river between the lake and the project and that homes are being built above the elevation line. "That should take care of it," Powell said, "but the mayor is talking experience here."

The council voted to include the warning notice on the plat maps and discussed going back to add it to the map already approved.

Grant Bangerter, one of the developers, said it's one thing to put a warning notice on the maps but another to approve the plans.

"By doing that, they're saying they'll protect the residents," Bangerter said.

He said Lehi has insisted the open space and park for the project provide a buffer between the homes and the lake.

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"The city will be putting in infrastructure below us along with the storm drainage and park. Plus, Saratoga Springs has built below our benchmark, so I'm not worried," Bangerter said.

Property owners Fred Woods and Bangerter plan to put up to 295 split levels, ramblers and two-story homes with double garages, 1,200 square feet of space and 70 percent brick and stucco exteriors, ranging in price from $150,000 down.

Bangerter said he expects construction to begin in early next year with the first homes up by late March.


E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com

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