DRAPER, Utah, April 24, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Edge Homes, the Draper-based builder of two residences destroyed by a mudslide and two others condemned due to unstable ground, has released a statement after the weekend incident.
“The events of last Friday night and early Saturday morning were shocking,” says the statement signed by company President Gordy Jones and CEO Steve Maddox.
“As a company, we have never experienced such devastating events with our homes. More than anything else, we are incredibly grateful that no one was injured.”
Draper City statement
The Edge Homes company statement continues below. A Draper City statement says its building officials issued a notice revoking occupancy to the homes, at 2463 and 2477 E. Springtime Road, on Oct. 25 of last year.
“The notice declared both homes unfit for human habitation and occupancy due to dangerous conditions. The conditions were related to earth shifting that resulted in sliding and breaks in the homes’ foundations,” the city’s news release says.
“Early this morning, both homes collapsed due to sliding. Engineers, building officials, and public safety personnel are on site and have determined that two additional homes, one on each side of the previously evacuated homes, need to be evacuated. The residents of these homes have been notified and are evacuating.
“Draper City has been following up with the developer, Edge Homes, for months on engineering studies Edge Homes has conducted regarding the stability of the surrounding area. With the snowpack melting and creating changes in conditions, other homes in the neighborhood will be evaluated for safety concerns. At this time, only the two adjacent homes are being evacuated.”
Edge Homes says it followed guidelines
The Edge Homes statement next says plans were reviewed by Draper City.
“With the failure of the retaining wall and hillside slope, we want to address the question on everyone’s mind: how did this happen? The engineering and construction firms that designed and constructed the retaining walls are long-standing companies with proven track records and years of combined experience. The design of the retaining walls underwent a thorough review process with Draper City, with frequent inspections and quality checks throughout construction. Yet, despite all the engineering and quality control efforts, the wall and hillside experienced a complete failure. Was this a design failure by the engineers? Was this a construction failure by the excavators and retaining wall companies? Was this a combination of both, or neither? We simply cannot answer these questions today. More analysis and data are necessary, but we are committed to finding the underlying cause of the problems to ensure they do not happen again.
“We do know that stability issues and structural concerns with these two homes existed even before this past winter began, with its record snowpack and deep soil saturation. These winter conditions amplified the problems and prevented us from stabilizing the homes. We had hoped to perform a controlled demolition of the two homes in the near future, but that is no longer possible. The remediation, hillside stabilization, and beautification will now be our focus. We will see this situation through to the end in order to protect our homeowners, their families, and the community.
“Last October, when Draper City unilaterally revoked the occupancy permits for these two homes and forced the owners to move out, we initially disagreed with that decision because the data at that time indicated that the recently-installed piers had stopped movement of the homes. As we continued to monitor the situation and collect additional data, however, it became evident in December 2022 that the homes were continuing to move and that evacuation of the homeowners was the correct decision.”
Edge Homes says it will pay homeowners
“At this point, our top priority is to take care of the homeowners who are directly affected by the slide. In January, we bought back one of these homes and paid the owners for various additional expenses relating to their relocation. We expect to achieve a similar, mutually-acceptable resolution with the owners of the other home in the near future.
“We are also in contact with the owners of the homes on each side of the slide area who have evacuated their homes out of an abundance of caution. We are paying their relocation, storage, and temporary housing expenses. We will fairly compensate them for the disruption and inconvenience they are experiencing. Regardless of who is at fault, it is our company policy to stand by our homeowners and not leave them stranded.”
