Salt Lake City building officials have ordered a developer to fill the crater on the corner of 2100 South and Highland Drive unless construction is imminent.

Craig Mecham has been given until Oct. 31 to backfill the hole at the Sugar House site of his proposed 4 1/2 -acre residential, retail and office development. Mecham also must submit to the city a detailed development schedule by Oct. 20, allowing city officials to monitor the project's progress.

"If in fact there's going to be a substantial delay, which we believe is the case, then he needs to get the hole filled in," said Frank Gray, Salt Lake City's director of community and economic development.

Gray sent a letter to Mecham on Wednesday to inform him of the deadlines. The requirement that backfill be completed by the end of the month is an extension from Sept. 26 — the latest in a series of construction deadlines Mecham has failed to meet.

With winter on its way, city officials are worried about having a pit that does not drain in the middle of an undeveloped area.

In a letter to Mayor Ralph Becker dated Oct. 2, Mecham said backfilling the hole would cost about $80,000 — on top of the $50,000-plus he spent in June to landscape the perimeter of the site.

The additional expense, he wrote, "will substantially delay if not kill the proposed development."

Mecham did not return phone calls seeking comment. The Deseret News obtained copies of the letters through the Government Records Access and Management Act.

In the letter, Mecham also heaps blame on city officials — including the Planning Commission — for not moving the project through the approval process quickly enough.

The Planning Commission approved the project at its Aug. 13 meeting — nearly a year after Mecham first pitched the idea to commissioners.

Since that time, there have been "dramatic changes in the credit markets," he wrote, "and as of now, many of the financial institutions which expressed initial interest no longer are — or can — provide the necessary financing."

Mecham is working to obtain financing, according to the letter, but "I am not currently in a financial position to proceed without a financial commitment."

The developer also contends in the letter that he's being "singled out" by the city, saying he's aware of "other projects that have not been required to incur such unusual additional expenses."

Gray said the city is simply holding Mecham to the commitments he made when he obtained a demolition permit.

Salt Lake City Councilman Soren Simonsen said the uncertain future of Mecham's development is the reason the city in most cases shouldn't issue demolition permits based on landscaping plans.