Utah examining landslide issues

This year's landslide season has already claimed several homes and threatened neighborhoods across the state. It all has Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. asking what the state can do to help and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff looking at possible intervention.

Huntsman has formed a group of local and state government officials and geology experts to try to answer that question.

"He was interested in, 'What can the state do to help?' " said Gary Christenson, the Utah Geological Survey's geologic-hazards program manager, who will head up the group. "A lot of these issues are really local issues, but there may be a role the state can play to help local governments deal with this."

Huntsman formed the group this spring at a meeting with Department of Natural Resources officials, including Christenson. The governor had requested a briefing on landslide issues in response to several high-profile slides, including one in Morgan County's Highlands West subdivision that forced one woman from her home and threatened several other homes in the half-million-dollar range.

Huntsman was most struck by the disparity among cities' use of available state resources, people who attended the meeting said.

"It's a pretty big issue where we have maps and we have information, but only in those communities that have requested them," state Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi said. "Some communities are more receptive to the assistance than others. The governor was a little bit surprised by that."

Christenson said the group has "no preconceived notions about what (the statewide solution) might be." But the group may consider such options as identifying technical assistance the state can offer local governments or creating legislation that would regulate how new developments are approved.

In addition to a number of planners and engineers from "communities that have had first-hand experience with landslides" — like Layton and Morgan County — the group will include representatives from the Utah League of Cities and Towns, the Utah Association of Counties, the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, the Utah Office of Emergency Services, the American Planning Association and the Utah City Engineers Association, Christenson said.

The group has not yet started meeting, mainly because the state's landslide season is in full swing, keeping city officials and state geology experts busy. Christenson said he hopes the group will start meeting sometime in July.

"It will bring everyone up to speed," he said.

"There are some flaws in the process" of local subdivision approval, he added. "Hopefully, we can resolve some of the issues."

Another state office, the Attorney General's Office, is also mulling a possible role in the landslide problem — specifically the Highlands West slide.

"We have received a complaint, and we are reviewing to see if our office has a role in resolving some of the issues," attorney general's spokesman Paul Murphy said.

He could not give details of the complaint but said it involves allegations of conflicts of interest and violations of the state open meetings law. Highlands West was developed by Morgan County Councilman Bart Smith. Residents of the neighborhood have spoken at several council meetings and have complained the council is ignoring their concerns.

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