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REQUEST
FOR CONTINUANCE: David Ford, Engineer
January 16th, 2007
Mr Jeff Daughtery
Division
Director - Salt Lake County Public Works
Planning and Development
RE: CONTINUANCE REQUEST FOR PUBLIC MEETING ON Variance Number #23419
Dear Sir,
I am an engineer who has been retained by some residents of
Emigration Canyon to evaluate the safety of a proposed project
which is to be reviewed tomorrow. January
I7, 2006.
Proper Notification: Some of the
nearby residents with whom I spoke indicated that they received
NO notification of the Public Meeting.
Others commented that they had only received notification a few
days ago. A good friend lives directly below the proposed construction
site and I have offered to make an asessment pro bono.
After climbing and photographing the hillside on which the proposed
construction is to take place, and after reviewing the architectural
drawings of the spread flutings for said structure, I would stake
my reputation that not only is it possible that during some rainy
month, the structure will slide down the 50% slope, it will occur
quickly and without warning.
The $850,000 home directly beneath the proposed structure would
be obliterated, and there is a real potential for injury or death.
I plead for time to prepare a
short presentation with facts and calculations. With absolutely
no disrespect intended, once a warning is on the record, should
a disaster happen, there
would undoubtedly be "hell to pay" during litigation.
When I looked at the steep hillside yesterday that some unfortunate
soul bought as a homesite, I was astonished that it could even
be sold, knowing that the overlay restrictions DO NOT ALLOW a home to be
built on greater than a 30% grade. The overlay requirements state
in no uncertain terms that the committee does NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY
to override the requirement that a home be built on greater than
a 30 percent grade, yet the proposed variation calls for 50%. It
is sheer madness and a recipe for disaster for all neighbors.
I personally observed the Spanish Fork canyon mountain-slide
several years ago in which the entire mountain slid into the unpopulated
valley below. I have seen other sites on which a home was built
on a grade much less than 50% in which the home simply slid unstoppably
down the mountain. The engineers and architects DID NOT PREDICT
THAT! We are not omniscient.
MAY I MOST RESPECTFULLY REQUEST A CONTINUANCE OF THIS HEARING SO
THAT I MAY PRESENT A COGENT CASE SHOWING THAT THIS LOT SHOULD NEVER
HAVE BEEN SOLD AS A HOMESITE BECAUSE OF SAFETY ISSUES. Please give
me the time to help people understand the peril. The stakes are
high enough to demand that sufficient analysis be done by people
who have NO profit motive in the project. Incidentally,
Ms. Dalrymple's assessment did not address Safety, about which
I spoke with her cordially.
Respectfully,
David Ford
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