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The Crossroads Journal

Eagle Mountain growth brings benefits, challenges

By Mike Kieffer
One of the best indicators of city growth is development. Eagle Mountain has seen an increase in growth over the last six years. Since 2006, the city has issued a total of 6,618 building permits. The Eagle Mountain building department has also been busy doing more than 27,000 inspections since 2010.

Stephanie Gricius, a member of the Eagle Mountain City Council, said, "We've been running as fast as our feet will carry us for years, but now we're to the point of re-evaluating our options as our infrastructure, mainly transportation, is approaching capacity."

The issuing of permits for building and the development itself helps the city in several ways. Development requires workers, and those workers need to travel to the construction site and spend time in Eagle Mountain to complete the development. These workers then see what Eagle Mountain has to offer them as well as have the opportunity to partake of the services the city offers. Development also increases the city's population. Those new residents pay property tax and sales tax, which in turn help the city provide infrastructure and amenities.

Eagle Mountain has seen a huge increase in growth from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, the number of building permits increased by half the number issued the previous year,and commercial permits experienced a 100 percent increase.

The city has also seen a large amount of growth during the last few years in the number of inspections the building department has completed.

But growth can also cause growing pains for the city. If the infrastructure cannot keep up with the growth, it can cause friction between the residents, developers and the city. The city is constantly performing a balancing act to keep the infrastructure in step with the residential and commercial growth.

Colby Curtis, a member of Eagle Mountains City Council, said, "If you`re going to have difficult issues to deal with in a city, I can't think of a better one than growth. We are thriving and that's wonderful. It means Eagle Mountain is a great place to live and on a good path. That path also creates unique issues that have to be addressed. Working to keep up on roads, staffing and quality of service all come into play. Currently, Eagle Mountain has a handle on this, though as we move into the future, I perceive one of two things must happen: we either have to scale up government operations to meet this demand and ride the growth or make specific policy decisions designed to soften the boom. While either option has its downsides, both must be considered."
The community news source for Eagle Mountain Utah, Saratoga Springs Utah, Lehi Utah, American Fork Utah, Highland Utah, Alpine Utah, and The Cedar Valley, including Cedar Fort Utah and Fairfield Utah. Copyright 2024 The Crossroads Journal LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 


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