Draper mayor blames building procedures for home collapses
Apr 24, 2023, 12:11 PM | Updated: Apr 26, 2023, 2:56 pm
The debris of two homes in Draper that have reportedly been evacuated for months sits at the bottom of a hill after sliding overnight on Saturday, April 22, 2023. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
Editor’s note: This story has been changed to reflect the correct name of the Draper housing development in question. KSL NewsRadio regrets the error.
DRAPER, Utah — On Saturday, two homes in Draper collapsed and fell into a ravine due to a crumbling, man-made foundation. On Monday Draper Mayor Troy Walker said it “seems pretty obvious” that proper building procedures weren’t followed with the two homes that collapsed.
Listen live to the mayor at 9:20!
Walker told Utah’s Morning News the homes were built on “engineered fill” that failed to support the weight of the houses.
The builder, Edge Homes, issued a press release saying they are “committed to fairly compensating the owners.”
“It’s not a mudslide or a landslide in the typical sense, it’s not native land that just gave way. This is actually man-made land that gave way, so that’s what is unique about it,” he said.
According to Walker, other homes in the Hidden Canyons Estates neighborhood are built on native soil and should be safe.
Edge Homes concluded their statement by saying they stand by their product.
“We stand by our product and take care of our buyers even when problems arise from circumstances outside of our control.”
Listen to the full interview below with Mayor Troy Walker
Related reading
- Two homes collapse in Draper City after being evacuated in 2022
- Utah Geological Survey monitoring 100 landslide locations across the state
