Center of city a center of distress

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — The 5-year-old city stretches over thousands of acres of west Utah County desert.

A drive from the city's center to its closest neighbor — Lehi — takes 15 minutes.

But the abandoned feeling many Eagle Mountain residents share has nothing to do with the town's location.

For nearly two years, a part of the city has been foundering — businesses won't build in the city center because home growth in the area has slowed, and families don't want to move in because there are no gas stations or grocery stores.

Eagle Mountain was originally intended to be a self-sustaining desert oasis with business parks and an airport, a mecca for young families in search of cheaper housing and open ranges.

Instead, the streets are bare, there is only one small store and growth is happening everywhere but at the city's center blocks.

Eagle Mountain also is in deep debt — up to $45 million.

In a move to help reverse the trend and kick-start town growth, the City Council wants to use $600,000 for central city beautification projects such as parks and median landscaping.

The council also wants to use $1 million to start a commercial park in the city center.

The money for these two projects would come from special improvement districts. The city would issue bonds for the money, holding the piece of property it wants to improve as collateral.

Eagle Mountain incorporated in 1996 after developers and ranchers decided it would be more cost-effective to operate as a town rather than as part of Utah County.

Nick Berg, the man who found the 8,000 Cedar Valley acres that would become Eagle Mountain and who works with Eagle Mountain Properties, the largest development company in the city, says Cedar Valley and Eagle Mountain are just starting to realize their potential.

Berg said Eagle Mountain will become "the huge economic engine of northern Utah County." It's the only place left close to Salt Lake City that has the room to support the population growth projected for the state's future, he said.

For that reason, the town needs a commercial center and an airport, he said. Because the city was basically lifted out of the sagebrush, developers and city planners have had different problems than other start-up cities.