SPRINGHILL, Utah — It's been over a decade since Larry Tanner watched his neighbor's homes get torn down due to damage from an infamous Springhill landslide.
Years later, Tanner vividly explained how a house had to have two by fours put in place to keep walls from caving into the basement in 2012.
"I think that was the second house that was taken down, then FEMA came in and they just decided to wipe them all out," said Tanner.
Tanner has lived in the Springhill neighborhood for 48 years; Luckily for him, his house is still standing, but not without its damage.
"The back of it has dropped a lot, you can see my back fence way down at the bottom of the hill too, you can see the cracks," he said.
His mailbox is also drooping down to the north and Tanner has given up on trying to fix it, but says his mailman doesn't mind.
"He'll pull right up next to it, and he'll lean over and put it in."
It's been a while since the original landslide, but even after all this time Tanner says the land is still moving.
"The street and everything is moving to the north," Tanner said. "North Salt Lake has gave up on the area, they will not fix the curb and gutter because it'll just happen again."
State Geologist Bill Keech says the geology of the Springhill area and the amount of water that runs down the hill makes it a prime location for consistent landslides.
"A lot of landslides are not what people think," Keech explained, "they're not things that bump down the hill in a big mess, they move a few inches or a few feet every year."
Keech says to avoid losing more neighborhoods like Springhill, home builders have to know the land.
"If I was going to be a home builder I would make sure I understand the geology because some places are much more prone due to the geology," Keech said.
For Tanner, although he likes the new park built in places of the homes, he is still nostalgic of the neighborhood that used to be.
"I would rather have the houses and the people back, but I've gotten used to it."
