Homeowners in North Salt Lake deny water irrigation triggered landslide

Homeowners in North Salt Lake deny water irrigation triggered landslide

(Spencer Hall/KSL.com)


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NORTH SALT LAKE — Homeowners blamed by developers for watering their lawn too much and contributing to a landslide that washed out their own backyard last year have filed a response to the lawsuit against them.

Paul and Jeanette Evans, of North Salt Lake, say Eaglepointe Development, Sky Properties and others used them to "divert attention from their own actions," used "fabricated" data, and are not relying on "scientific evidence" to make their claims that too much irrigation water caused the hillside to slide.

"We don't make up numbers. We got the numbers from the city," said Eaglepointe Vice President Scott Kjar. He said he has "no reason" to slander the Evanses. "We were obligated to make a response to the original lawsuit. … We didn't have a choice but to include everyone who is part of this."

Kjar said he wishes things could be handled outside of court, but a settlement he presented to the Evanses in mid-May wasn't accepted.

"I can't fault (Paul Evans) for not taking it," Kjar said. "We don't know what it would mean until the hillside is fixed."

The North Salt Lake City Council agreed last month to fund a proposal that would remediate the mountainside, providing a safer slope at the top and stability for the Evanses' home at the edge of the slide, as well as for neighboring homes below. Eaglepointe also agreed to fund a large portion of the remediation and give the city access to the property to get the work done.

Work has yet to begin, however, as the Eagleridge Swimming and Tennis Club, located at the base of the hill, recently pulled out of the agreement and has denied access to the city to build a wall at the bottom of the slide.


The developers built a neighborhood on top of a sand and gravel pit and failed to follow the recommendations of their own geologic reports. Now instead of acknowledging and remedying their mistakes, the developers are attempting to case blame on (Paul and Jeanette Evans) — two of the very individuals they endangered.

–Paul and Jeanette Evans


City manager Barry Edwards said further negotiations with the tennis club have resulted in a stalemate. He said the club, which lost a couple of tennis courts to the Aug. 5 influx of mud and dirt, will have to engineer its own cleanup.

Edwards said he expects work to begin on the hillside in the next few weeks.

"This is a real complicated situation," Kjar said.

Developers have been working to build a new home for one family that lost their home at the base of the slide, and it should be ready by early fall.

The Evanses were called out in a June 3 countersuit filed by developers, in response to an original lawsuit filed by the gas company that operates two lines near the slide area, stating the homeowners used more than 2 ½ times the water as neighboring property owners.

The Evanses' response states the developers' allegations are not only inaccurate, but data was "cherry-picked" out of comprehensive data just to make a point against the Evanses.

"The developers built a neighborhood on top of a sand and gravel pit and failed to follow the recommendations of their own geologic reports," the response filed by the Evanses states. "Now instead of acknowledging and remedying their mistakes, the developers are attempting to case blame on (Paul and Jeanette Evans) — two of the very individuals they endangered."

Kjar said he doesn't blame the Evanses for the candid legal response, as "they've been through a lot. There's no denying that," he said, adding that the allegations of water use were "not unreasonable."

"But I don't believe what he's saying," Kjar said.

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