After nearly two months\u2019 delay, the Heber City Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a preliminary site plan for The Slope, a mixed-use luxury development featuring retail, housing and a hotel, set alongside the Provo River. Construction on The Slope is expected to begin this spring.<\/p>\n
The site plan was initially brought to the Planning Commission for approval on Oct. 14, but was delayed after Dan Simmons, who owns farmland next to The Slope, expressed skepticism around the findings of Angstrom Development Group\u2019s groundwater study.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an email to city engineer Russ Funk before the October Planning Commission meeting, Simmons wrote, \u201cAs the immediately adjacent landowner, I know that groundwater can be at times only a foot beneath the surface in the areas, and indeed can even sometimes sub up above ground, depending on the water year conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Groundwater is any water found underneath the Earth\u2019s surface, which can gather in layers called aquifers. A groundwater study not only ensures protection of the water supply, but it is also intended to ensure a development\u2019s foundations are stable and will not cause flooding.<\/p>\n
The city requires a minimum of 4 feet of dirt above historic groundwater levels for potential stormwater infiltration.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 4, third-party GSH Geotechnical Consultants measured groundwater levels on the 40-acre site by excavating 12 test pits. The study found that groundwater depth ranged from 4.5 to 10.2 feet below the surface that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The consultants also estimated that the maximum historic groundwater depth was 3 to 8.7 feet across the test pits. This was done by studying mottling, rust streaks and spots in the soil that form during fluctuating water conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The findings around historic groundwater depth led to additional development costs. Angstrom Development Group partner Andy Dorobek said \u201calmost the entire civil engineering\u201d had to be redesigned on the site. Funk added that the development group will have to pay to import \u201ca significant amount of fill\u201d at its expense.<\/p>\n
However, Simmons still had concerns, particularly because the groundwater levels were measured only once, on \u201ca date late in the summer of a hot, dry year,\u201d instead being monitored continually to evaluate seasonal fluctuations.\u00a0<\/p>\n