Housing plans irk Draper residents

DRAPER — The slope of land stretching out from Matt Haines' home may look fairly benign, but it's a battleground to him and other residents in a fight for open space.

Haines, a member of the area's homeowners association, said residents were promised by developers and city administrators that the land in front of their homes near the intersection of Traverse Ridge Road and Manilla Drive would be used for the public good, not for private housing.

But the Evangelical Free Church, which acquired the land from a donor four years ago, now plans to sell the land to Platinum Properties to build 70-some townhomes — a move Haines said will lower property values and block scenic views of the valley.

"We were all basically manipulated and misled," Haines said.

He and other homeowners have already lost to the city's planning commission, which has approved the development. The issue comes before the Draper City Council at 7 p.m. tonight, Draper City Hall, 1020 E. 12400 South.

City Manager Eric Keck said city officials originally wanted the land to be put to some civic use such as a school or church, but neither the city nor the church ever made a written promise to do so.

"We believe we've followed the law and the record," Keck said.

Phil Faber, chairman of the board of trustees for the Evangelical Free Church, said he wanted to build a church on the lot, but the steep slope of the land and the church's finances won't allow it. Faber intends to use the profits from the sale to pay the mortgage on another church property in Holladay.

"There's been such animosity over this," Faber said. "The church never promised anything to anyone about this property."

But Haines said he and seven other leaders of Draper homeowners associations believe neither church leaders nor city officials ever intended to preserve the space for public use. Haines said a 2001 decision by the City Council to rezone the area for higher density homes was evidence that the city planned on developing the land.

"It's an atrocity," Haines said. "They are so anxious to get rooftops into the city that they are allowing anything to go in. It's just a hodgepodge."

The townhomes in the development are expected to sell for about $175,000. Existing single-family dwellings there now average $400,000 per home, resident Gordon Holt said.