Districting Draper Council is proposed

DRAPER — One Draper City Council member is pushing a plan to move from at-large City Council seats to districts, which would carve the city into three areas and has a couple of council members alarmed at the possibility.

With 33,000 people and more moving in every day, Draper Councilman Paul Edwards wonders if it isn't time this south-valley suburb, which spills over into Utah County, established council districts. Edwards proposes to change from the five at-large seats to three districts and two at-large seats; the City Council is scheduled to discuss the proposal at its meeting Tuesday.

But a few council members already are lining up against the idea, including Bill Colbert, who lives in the SunCrest development and said he has serious reservations about the proposed changes.

"I think it's unfair to try to rush this in before the end of the year before people's terms expire," Colbert said. "If it's a good idea, it will be a good idea in five weeks. The merits can be discussed in a more calm environment rather than when people have holidays going on, and we probably won't get that public hearing that we want."

Of the five at-large members, two are leaving office in a month: LaMont Smith lost his bid for re-election, and Ryan Davies did not seek office again. Stephanie Davis and Jeff Stenquist, who are replacing Smith and Davies, live in newer housing in Draper's southern region. Edwards lives at roughly 500 East and 13700 South, and Pete Larkin lives at roughly 1300 East and 12800 South.

Eastern and northeastern Draper would be District One; western and northwestern Draper would be District Two, and southern Draper would be District Three. The ordinance splits the city into districts based on numbers from the 2000 census and is partly based on voting precinct borders. Colbert, Davis and Stenquist would be in the same district. Edwards would be in District Two, and Larkin would be in District One.

Stenquist thinks the council is targeting the South Mountain area to reduce the number of council votes from his neighborhoods.

"I think it's a turf war thing," Stenquist said. "There historically has been a little bit of a division in the city between people who live in the flat part of Draper — a lot of people who have been longtime residents of Draper — and people who are moving in in large numbers on the hillside."

Regardless of the geographical differences, Stenquist said that he likes representing the entire city.

"I appreciate the fact that as an at-large member, I'm accountable to all the residents of Draper," Stenquist said. "I think the entire council should be that way."