LINDON -- The Lindon City Council recently turned down a motion to accept a plan to develop a new subdivision in the city.

The council met last Tuesday and decided the developmental plan wasn't ready to be accepted. The proposal was for a nine-lot subdivision on 1200 East.

"The property has several developmental constraints, one of which is the aqueduct," said Adam Cowie, Lindon planning director."It's owned and operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy and they have ... (an) easement 150 feet wide where they won't allow any parallel utilities within that easement."

Construction plans for the proposed subdivision, Canberra Estates, call for the underground utilities to be installed in a position contrary to typical standards. Cowie said the unusual placement of the utilities is the main reason the council didn't approve of the plans.

"I think that was the biggest concern from the City Council," he said. "They listed several thing but I think that is the biggest concern, so they didn't feel comfortable accepting it now."

Cowie said this is already the sixth City Council meeting at which the plan has been presented over a two-year span. Although this has been a long and difficult process, he said the planners will continue to make changes in the plan and will return to present it again to the council.

"At this point the developers are talking to the planning department and they will be reapplying to address those concerns in a better manner,"Cowie said. "They will be back in a Planning Commission/City Council meeting in the future. It'll probably be few months until they get back."

Several residents showed up at the last City Council meeting and expressed concerns over the construction of the new subdivision. The residents said they were worried about storm water and runoff problems that could potentially occur during construction because of the many slopes on the land.

"They just wanted to makes sure the city wouldn't accept something that would propose safety hazards," Cowie said.

The new subdivision is a large area but because of developmental constraints like the aqueduct and the slopes on the property, only nine lots are being proposed.

"Given the acreage, they could have probably gotten 15-18 homes but they only proposed nine due to developmental constraints on the property,"Cowie said.

The new subdivision would help complete several public roads as well as public sidewalks, something common in the development of new subdivisions.

"I don't know if there is anything out of the ordinary that they (the planners) are bringing to the table, but this certainly is a property they have a right to develop and we're hoping to work with them in the future," Cowie said.