Don't OK homes in slide-prone sites, Morgan told

MORGAN — Residents in Mountain Green who have spent this spring watching their yards slowly slide down a hill, threatening their homes, want Morgan County officials to be sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.

About a dozen Mountain Green residents showed up at Tuesday's County Council meeting. Two of them spoke during the meeting's public-comment period, urging the council to take action to prohibit new homes from being built in landslide-prone areas.

"The question that begs to be asked is why the Morgan County Council is approving new homes when there are existing homes that are sliding," resident Brad Hall said. Hall's home has slid about a half-foot during this year's wet spring.

In all, about 20 homes are built in the path of the historic landslide or nearby. In April, one resident was forced to move out when her home was deemed unsafe to inhabit.

Other homes, including Hall's, have begun to display cracks in their foundations. Hall's backyard patio has begun to bow. Up the road, boulders have rolled down the hill, retaining walls have bent and roads have cracked and buckled.

Hall told the council that the county needs "more proactive" ordinances regulating development on slopes. He said a comprehensive study should be done looking at Mountain Green's problem areas. That study should be used to develop a new landslide policy. In the meantime, he said, the county should place a moratorium on new building in Mountain Green.

"I believe that allowing a family to build a home on an active landslide is an act of greed," Hall told the council.

Another resident told the council they were all welcome to visit his home so he could show them the damage the slide has caused.

Because the residents' comments were not part of an agenda item, the council did not discuss the matter or take any action.

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