SPANISH FORK — City leaders took their first step Tuesday toward shifting the boundary between Spanish Fork and Mapleton to ease development near where U.S. 89 and U.S. 6 converge.

The Spanish Fork City Council action starts the process and the comment period, leading to a Dec. 15 public hearing before the final vote.

The Mapleton City Council is expected to review and vote on a similar resolution Wednesday.

However, the issue is far more complicated in Mapleton, where some residents oppose the boundary shift because it would bring more than 500 acres of Ensign-Bickford Corp. land into the city for development.

The explosives-manufacturing company has been sued numerous times by Mapleton residents and the city for allegedly poisoning their wells with explosives residue. The facility is now shut down, and land affected by the manufacturing is nearly cleaned up for development.

Presidio Capital LLC and Spanish Presidio LLC, owned by Ensign Bickford, and developer Jack Evans want to turn the property into a mixed-use development of commercial, industrial and residential space that would give Mapleton a commercial entry on U.S. 6.

Land affected by the explosives manufacturing would be for industrial or commercial use, while land never affected by the business, except for a small portion, would be planned for residential development, Evans told the Deseret News.

Evans said he will develop regardless of which city gets the property, but it would make more sense for him to have the boundary line moved so he would have to build just one sewer line. Evans is also ready to build another large residential development just north of the Ensign-Bickford property in Mapleton.

Mapleton already owns 23 percent of the Spanish Fork sewer-treatment plant, but it would need to buy more capacity if the boundary line changes, said Spanish Fork city attorney Junior Baker.

e-mail: rodger@desnews.com