2 cities negotiate to annex developer's land

MAPLETON — A developer who applied to have a subdivision annexed into Spanish Fork will now have to begin negotiations with Mapleton.

The Mapleton City Council on Tuesday made it clear Spanish Fork was not welcome to nab up bits and pieces of land city planners had historically staked out.

Lars Boggess, one of several investors looking to develop the Utah County land sandwiched between Mapleton and Spanish Fork, has been bounced between the two cities, trying to annex his land for nearly two-and-a-half years.

During a joint meeting of the two councils Tuesday, Spanish Fork City Council members voted unanimously to allow Mapleton sole annexation rights to the 159-acre subdivision proposed by Boggess.

Boggess said he would rather build his subdivision as part of Spanish Fork, however, because the city allows smaller lot sizes and charges less in impact fees. Property taxes and utility fees are also lower, he said.

The developer applied for annexation into Mapleton twice before, but the two parties could not agree on how many homes should be built on the property. Mapleton City Council members said they would allow 300 homes, but Boggess wanted 500.

Boggess said the larger lots rural Mapleton has asked him to work with are impractical for a modern market. Larger lots, he said, call for larger homes — and people aren't buying larger homes.

"You can't sell that right now," he said. "What's selling is something that's affordable. To force people to continue building these giant lots, to use up all their water and all their energy, is just bad planning."

Mapleton Mayor Jim Brady said the city's disagreements with the developer about density should not be interpreted as disinterest.

"If Spanish Fork were to annex this land, we would consider that intrusive," Brady said.

Annexing the land up to U.S. 89 has long been a part of Mapleton's long-term plans, he said. The city took that land into account when planning sewer infrastructure, water lines and roads.

Until October 2006, Mapleton had an agreement with Spanish Fork defining the annexation boundaries. But once developers on Mapleton's side of the highway started petitioning Spanish Fork for annexation, Spanish Fork dissolved the agreement — a move that displeased Mapleton officials.