Have you ever wondered why Eagle Mountain’s homes are so poorly built or why our streets and neighborhoods are often falling apart? Are the city’s builders just lazy or are the city’s inspectors incompetent? Or could it be an intentional decision by both of them to make extra money at our expense?
A couple years ago a friend of mine talked to a former Eagle Mountain City building inspector about the poor quality homes in our neighborhood and he was told that the city’s main developer has a 1998 Master Development Agreement that exempts him from building codes. Of course, this can’t be true, but if it was, it would explain a lot.
If a developer was actually exempt from the city’s building codes, he could cut all kinds of corners in order to boost his bottom line. If he could shave even 5 percent off the cost of a $150,000 home and he built 100 homes, he would make an extra $750,000 in illegal profits. Over the last 19 years our city’s developers have built about 6,000 homes. You do the math, or you can just read the following report for more details:
Full Report: Eagle Mountain’s Developer Utopia — Building Codes Optional, Profits Extra-Rich
Building regulations are designed to protect our health and safety and no one should be exempt from following them.
This has been a big problem for us. Main water line burst that connects to the street. Our main sprinker line kept breaking and sprinkler box has sunk. The kitchen cabinets are falling apart. Our side walk and stairs are sinking. Windows are falling away from the house and insulation is coming out from in-between them. Toilets were installed with two rubber gaskets and no wax ring which caused leaking in the basement.
I am sure I can think of more
Our driveway sunk at least 3 inches and has major cracks.
I agree that the quality of the homes in general have gone down hill as the pace has sped up in the building process.
Here is my question: If this is true, then why haven’t we, as residents of Eagle Mountain and clients of the builders here, escalated these concerns to an attorney for a class action lawsuit or at a minimum, gotten the news outlets involved, like Get Gephardt? I can’t imagine that the state is ok with one city going rogue on something like this and there isn’t an attorney wanted to benefit financially from this.
If a news outlet were to take this story on, at least it would help others not make the same mistakes.
Thoughts?
Lawsuits against the city are problematic because if we win, we get to pay for our own awards through higher taxes. But media attention is a great idea. Also, I’m afraid that the state is ok with our city going rogue because it’s actually letting other cities follow suit. I’ve been hearing stories about Provo, in particular, where developers are getting all kinds of favors from the city’s politicians.
Long-term there are two elections that will make all the difference in the future. One is the Utah County Attorney’s race and the second is our mayor’s race. If we can get honest people into both of those positions, we can really clean house. Having administrative control of the city and an honest prosecutor in the county will do a lot to curb corruption in our neck of the woods.
If I am correct most of those houses in your subdivision are almost 20 years old. I am not sure that it would be the builder or developers fault at this point. Just trying to look at it from when we lived in an older house and we had to upgrade and maintenance our driveway as well.
By chance have you contacted the City to see if they would take a look at it? I know when we had a problem with flooding the City Engineer came out and we were able to get our fixes covered by the City’s insurance because it was an actual problem with the drainage. Most of the time these can be easy fixes if they are brought to the correct people. Not sure if you have done that yet so it is just a suggestion. We love it here in Eagle Mountain, though it is not perfect every City has it’s issues. If we all try and work together instead of against each other its more likely to work out for the best.
I am curious to know who this God Father person is? If this is accurate I would like to get involved!