After nearly two months’ 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. The sit e 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’s groundwater study.  In an email to city engineer Russ Funk before the October Planning Commission meeting, Simmons wrote, “As 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.” Groundwater is any water found underneath the Earth’s 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’s foundations are stable and will not cause flooding. The city requires a minimum of 4 feet of dirt above historic groundwater levels for potential stormwater infiltration. 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.  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.  4147-001-25 Groundwater Evaluation – The Slope Mixed-Use DevelopmentDownload The findings around historic groundwater depth led to additional development costs. Angstrom Development Group partner Andy Dorobek said “almost the entire civil engineering” had to be redesigned on the site. Funk added that the development group will have to pay to import “a significant amount of fill” at its expense. However, Simmons still had concerns, particularly because the groundwater levels were measured only once, on “a date late in the summer of a hot, dry year,” instead being monitored continually to evaluate seasonal fluctuations.  He also worried about potential groundwater contamination and impacts on the Provo River. The Wasatch County Health Department classified the area where The Slope will be built as highly sensitive to groundwater contamination in its 2020 report on groundwater quality in the county. Simmons’ concerns were shared by Greg Poole, civil engineer with Hansen, Allen Luce, who had been hired by Simmons in the past to evaluate groundwater purity on his property, though not the groundwater level. Simmons and Poole’s concerns were based on eyewitness accounts of what they had observed on Simmons’ property. Funk called Poole a “very reputable hydrologic engineer,” which was why the city chose to look further into the groundwater levels. “We certainly don’t want to get every layman, neighbor, citizen coming in and thinking they can make an allegation and delay a project,” Funk said during the Oct. 14 meeting. “(But) we certainly can’t just say, ‘No, we’re not gonna listen to that.’ It definitely needs some attention.” Funk then hired another third party, engineer Patrick R. Emery from Gordon Geotechnical Engineering, Inc., to review GSH Geotechnical Consultants’ groundwater study.  Emery submitted his review on Dec. 3. He confirmed that soil mottling is “standard practice for determining the maximum historical groundwater depth at a site with the understanding that there are some limitations.” He also wrote that the number of test pit explorations was appropriate given the site’s size. Essentially, Emery found no issue with the methods GSH Geotechnical Consultants had used in its study.  Since groundwater was the primary remaining concern about the development, the Planning Commission approved the preliminary site plan unanimously during the meeting. “Heber City’s stormwater design standards are more stringent than most municipalities. … We have done our due diligence … to enforce our code,” Funk said. “There hasn’t been pushback. The developer has come forward and, from my perspective, tried to meet all those requirements without trying to argue against them.” 3rd Party Groundwater Determination ReviewDownload The post The Slope goes forward in Planning Commission appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less