Do developers rule in Draper?
They sway council with money, residents charge
Richard Robinson, chairman of Draper's South Mountain Homeowner's Association, said the latest dispute over an 11-acre lot on South Mountain has made him and some other residents seriously question whether city leaders are more interested in protecting the residents or catering to developers.
"They're not listening to the taxpayers. They think they're smarter than the rest of us," Robinson said. "The whole thing just smacks of something wrong."
The disputed land at the intersection of Manilla Drive and Traverse Ridge Road was donated by developer David Mast to the Evangelical Free Church four years ago. Robinson said nearby residents were promised that the acreage would remain open for public use as a church or a school. The church now wants to sell the land to Platinum Properties for townhouse development and is waiting on final approval from the City Council next week.
Resident Summer Pugh said she and others believe they were misled by the city and by the church. Pugh said the dispute is just one in a series of land-use disagreements that have surfaced because the City Council did not listen to the public.
Pugh pointed to a 2003 decision by the City Council as evidence that city leaders repeatedly take the word of developers over that of residents. In that decision, the City Council approved a residential development on South Mountain that was opposed by many residents and was determined to be in a potential landslide area by geologists.
According to city records, Draper Mayor Darrell Smith and the five councilmen do have a financial link to local developers. Each of the men received at least two campaign contributions in the last city election from groups with an interest in developing Draper land. Smith brought in at least $3,450 in donations from eight development groups, including the Homebuilders Association of Greater Salt Lake, the Draper Crossing development and Layton Construction Co. Smith also received a $200 contribution from Crystal Meadows LLC, a development headed by the same developer who is now looking to buy and develop the disputed church land.
The current council and mayor received at least $11,150 in contributions from developers, construction companies and other groups interested in land development.
Smith said those contributions have no impact on his decisions as mayor.
"I don't let it sway my opinion, and they (developers) know that. It's absolutely not a factor," he said.
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