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Show A j J T ' CAR-F-T LOT- C-007 u ; AH PF F 'z ASSOCIATION 2 3:7 U IVO S STu 4006 J YOUR TOWN, YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR NEWSPAPER THURSDAY. MARCH 11. 2004 50 CENTS VOL. 26 NO. 11 - 5Wf2J salt . a? r r..i -v. lit mi 01-1277 AN EDITION Or THE ?ftUtjflC Planners move ahead with city sign By Barbara Christiansen CfiY Eoncx? A little tweaking may bring American Fork's prospective community entrance sign into existence. The city's Beautification Committee had requested approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission to put a welcome sign near the 500 East 1-15 interchange. The initial request was tabled by the commission because it was larger than the city's ordinance permitted and there were concerns about the proposed placement Paul Strong of the Beautification Beauti-fication Committee indicated the group was willing to be flexible about the size and shape of the sign. They did want, however, to maintain the overall flavor of their proposal, pro-posal, which was a brick sign with brass lettering and trim on the top. It has the old-town look," said Strong. "It mimics this building (city hall)." Strong reported the group had letters from Woodbury Corporation and Denny's, indicating it would be permissible permis-sible to place the sign in front of the restaurant City Planner Rod Despain said that was good, but may not be sufficient "The real dilemma is -whose property is itT he said. "Woodbury holds a landscape easement 21 feet inside the right-of-way line. Woodbury cannot give us authority to construct it on the property of somebody else." In addition to the property ownership question, there were questions about safety and visibility for drivers. "We are concerned about sight distances," said Despain. The planners instructed Despain to draft a revision to the city's sign ordinance to permit the entrance sign and asked the committee to resolve legal issues related to the requested location. The sign is expected to be the first of a series of community commu-nity entrance signs. J) r 4 1, ( ., V - -" ' " ' ' s- - - ' Photo by Barbara Christiansen Happy Birthday Dr. Seliss Two-year-old Carson Soegmliler adjusts his Cat in the Hat headgear at the American Amer-ican Fork Public Library last Saturday. Hundreds turned out to have green pancakes pan-cakes and ham in honor of Dr. Seuss's 100th birthday. The library thanks Albertson's, Albert-son's, Target, Deseret Book, Penny Pinchers and Peppermint Place for their contributions contri-butions to the event. - senior zone By Barbara Christiansen City Editor Today's senior citizen is not the senior of days gone by. Instead of a rocking chair on the front porch, he or she is probably on the a focus. "It doesn't serve us well in terms of the diverse nature of senior housing," he told a joint work session of the Planning Commission Commis-sion and City Council. Z,gto 5 T "We now have the con-Poweii. con-Poweii. The porch cept of active adult. has gone the way Jhey hOVe O lot Of diS-of diS-of the storage .-eKlo inrnmo Klnnv Rhed for the boat K' " ''"7 orRV. And American Fork's senior housing ordinance, ordi-nance, though not as old as some seniors, is going the way of older laws. It was just a few years ago the city adopted its ordinance. One way senior housing differs from standard stan-dard plot plans is that it allows a greater density based on the premise that seniors make fewer trips per day, thus having a lower impact on roads. At the time, the plan was to allow developers to build assisted living facilities. WTiat has happened, however, is that some developers devel-opers have taken advantage of the density bonus and the seniors were mostly in the active adult category. Planner Rod Despain said the law had too narrow - See SENIOR on page 3 have a lot of toys. Planner Rod Despain "There were some unintended unin-tended consequences." "We now have the concept con-cept of 'active adult," he added. "They have a lot of disposable income. Many have a lot of toys." To better accommodate the full spectrum of seniors, the City Council has asked Despain to revise the ordinance. ordi-nance. "We need a spectrum or scaling," said council member mem-ber Keith Blake. He suggested sug-gested creating a special zone for senior housing, but others felt the city's current approach to permit senior housing in any residential zone was more appropriate. "We don't want to ware- City Council meeting postponed; has been changed to March 30 American Fork City has decided to postpone its regularly-schedule City Council meeting in order to allow residents and participants to attend political party caucuses on March 23. Those caucuses will select representatives who will determine candidates and policies for the coming election. The City Council meeting has been rescheduled until Tuesday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. There are public hearings planned prior to the meeting. Project resurfaces; same questions still remain By Barbara Christiansen City Editor A senior citizen housing project is back before American Amer-ican Fork City after over a year of waiting. The proposal included varying levels of senior housing, from town homes to an assisted living facility. facili-ty. It has been planned for an area northeast of the Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple. Part of the property has already been annexed into American Fork, while the remainder is under consideration con-sideration for annexation. That annexation request was the impetus for both study and reluctance. The Planning and Zoning Commission Com-mission looked at the concept con-cept plan for the proposed development and determined deter-mined it did not fit with the city's general plan, which calls for lower density hous ing in the area. When the issue initially came to the City Council, the group had some reservations reser-vations whether the area was suitable for senior housing or would be better as an upscale neighborhood with larger-than-average lots. At a joint session of the City Council and Planning see PROJECT on page 8 Galena to gold Riches of Mineral Basin broughf millions to American Fork and region's investors By Betty G. Spencer American Fork Canyon is rich in' the history of production of gold, silver, lead, copper and other minerals. The biggest "boom" came in the early 1870s to the 1920s. - Millions of dollars worth of ore was mined in Mineral Basin, up the North Fork of American Fork Canyon. Ore was hauled down the narrow mountain road by mules and for a time, carried to town by a narrow gauge railroad laid for he purpose of bringing out the ore. The line opened for business in 1872, the year before the Utah Southern Railroad reached American Amer-ican Fork. The narrow gauge railroad was . discontinued and the track taken up in 1878. .The mines were given colorful names, including the Whirlwind, Yankee, Dutchman, The Sunday, The Silver Bell, The Globe, the Pacific, the Milkmaid and the Live Yankee. More than 200 claims were filed in the area. The Pacific was one of the longest operating mines. It was owned by Willard Cleghorn, who also owned the Globe, the Dutchman Dutch-man and other interests. It was still operating in the 1970s up at the top of Mary Ellen Gulch, with Lloyd Strong, a partner in the mine, working the site. Miller Hill, just across the mountain top from Alta, has traditionally tradi-tionally been identified as one of' the most successful mines in the area. It is remote and at the end of the narrow dirt road leading to Mineral Basin from the Tibbie Fork area of American Fork Canyon. In 1870 the American Fork Mining District was organized to develop Mineral Flat. The first mining claim was the Sunbeam Lode, but the principal mine in the area was the Miller Hill mine. A smelter was erected and a settlement called Forest City was built. It had a population of several sever-al thousand, along with a small graveyard. In an effort to maintain main-tain the Graveyard Flat area, the V. S. Forest Service, along with State Senator Ernest H. Dean and G.Easton Brown, restored the headstones, clipped the weeds and enclosed the area with a fine picket pick-et fence in 1966. ' "'. The last major strike of silver ; "s i mow in mi urii - j ininirtiiiiiniMy .i:T . 1 . ! j j, f i S . . . i -" " ' - - - -. -1 American Fork Harrington Street (Main Street) In 1907, when mining was at its peak In American Fork Canyon. was in 1967 when a trio of prospectors claimed a major strike in the Major Evans Gulch See CANYON on page 3 cm cnnTiPiED urmt top tsusm cm ctonrtzo visa uxttLt emismip tumii rtjun mmmi vtur omit top is tramsM tmion tummu uui 'NJ ($ mum l CiSfS AiMJtO '01 UiVT JUJiJ '&9 CmY HmiiJL.i IS yW ia turn mttis-nam .M I u ran mm k rutu IlLZdl '$4 SlLitkMAOO IS X-CJt 4x4 i iirunr ihmmhhi .ram In Him mmj I .-- fug nil 1 1 7 V i-' rfJj lie imi turn miii twM COPY |