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Show April 15 03.qxd 12/7/2021 Volume VIII Issue I 3:55 PM Page 13 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 13 April 15, 2003 MR.SMITHS cont. from page 3 enthusiastically to friends. “Come on! We have to take part in this wonderful democratic venture! We cannot let “those” people beyond the mountains make decisions for us! Some of them knew about the Master Plan, and being enthusiastic conservationists, decided to join one of the committees. Some did it with hesitation, warning that if it turned political, they would drop out. It was with defeat in my voice that I called them after all these months, “You were right—it isn’t fun anymore,” I told them. Some of them had already dropped out because they felt that it was, after all, political. It took me a bit longer to pop out of my naïve stupor. But then I started thinking—all the people I know who dropped out, so far, are for the existing Master Plan. If this continues—who will be left working for incorporation? And then I thought, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I started wondering about the people at the meeting who shot the 20/20 committee’s findings down. Perhaps there were more people who felt like they did—people who want “progress,” and weren’t that interested in maintaining a rural environment. These would be people who did not come to the general meetings. So the only way to find out how other long time residents felt was to talk to them—call them, and e-mail them. Perhaps some of them do want to live in a place like Park City with city conveniences close by. Maybe they don’t even mind paying higher property taxes for those conveniences! Perhaps some old timers don’t want the inconvenience of driving through a canyon or over a mountain to get to places like Walmart, Target, Smiths, or a movie theater. Perhaps there are Eden residents who have a vision for the community that is contrary to the Master Plan—aren’t they entitled to that? So I contacted several additional residents. Do you know what I found out—there are many people who have been longing for the day when they could just hop in the car and drive five minutes to the center of Eden and have a cheap hamburger at McDonalds before catching a movie at a Valley theater. And some residents, who have lived here all their lives, thought that at retirement, they could divide their land into smaller portions and sell it for a nice profit. And shouldn’t they be able to do what they want with their land? They thought a day would come when they would have all the conveniences in the Valley—including a sewer system. And I have been told at the meeting, and since then, that one can have a McDonalds or a Burger King without huge, unsightly signs. Apparently they can fit into any building code. I learned that these residents, too, felt like the older man at the meeting. They wanted “everything that would make life easier.” One friend e-mailed me back. “Drienie, I have lived in the Valley all my life. As have my dad, granddad, and great granddad. We are FOR development on a large-scale. I think that this is inevitable. I think that it has to be controlled, but not to the point that we need to save an ugly old tree that is good for nothing but firewood, or dig around a squirrel hole that might serve no other purpose than for my horse to step in and break his leg. Development in this Valley will do nothing but make life more comfortable for people. I get very upset with the newcomers who want to close the door after they move in. If we (the natives) would have closed the door, they wouldn’t be here now. I have nothing to gain to keep them here. After “listening” to the majority of Eden voices, 20/20 envisioned that “our” city should stay rural, avoiding fast food restaurants with big and insulting billboards and lights. These restrictions would also complement the existing Master Plan and its vision. Paul concluded his report. But within the next half an hour, I learned that people do want fast food restaurants in Eden, and a man told us that “our” vision for Eden isn’t the vision of people in Eden! I tried to tell him that it wasn’t “our” vision— it was a consensus of what we had found while speaking to people at general meetings. A woman then told me that I hadn’t asked her… “You said you talked to everyone!” she stated with animosity. And then a red faced older man called out, “These people, who have only lived here for one or two years, must not come and tell “us,” who have lived here all our lives, what to do with “our” Valley!” My mouth dropped. Wait a minute—I’m one of those people! All of a sudden I did not feel welcome in the Valley anymore. And, apparently, I was one of the “newcomers” trying to “tell them,” the old timers, what to do with “their” Valley. And then the same person told the gathering that he went to a McDonalds in Park City, and he did not think it took anything away from its beauty. He continued, stating that the Valley should have a sewer system! My mouth went dry. “No!” I wanted to yell! This cannot be! What about the Master Plan?” But I just sat motionless, stunned! I had the distinct feeling that our 20/20 committee was alone, even though we had the backing of many people in Eden—but they weren’t there. I felt like “Mr. Smith who went to Washington,” and I’m sure so did my fellow committee members. We went to “Washington,” all starry-eyed with—what we thought were—noble ideas! Where, I wondered in a daze, did all this animosity come from all of a sudden? The two men and woman that responded to the 20/20 report were upset! Clearly they thought that we, the 20/20 committee, were the bad guys trying to take “their” Valley and make it into something that they did not want. I wanted to tell them, “Hey! It’s my Valley too! And nothing is cast in stone yet you know! Everyone in the Valley will have a chance to vote, and the way a democratic system works is—the majority will get their way!” Then I received yet another shock after a steering committee member stood up. “I went over to Park City (that place again?), and you know, some of it was bad, but some wasn’t so bad! You know what made the difference? Vegetation!” I just stared at him. What in heaven’s name does that have to do with anything!?!? Was he trying to tell us something? Isn’t “Park City” the big, bad word around our Valley? “I just hope our Valley will not turn into another Park City!” is the mantra that I hear time, and time again! I stared at him thinking, “Are you trying to warn us about what’s coming by telling us that Park City “ain’t that bad”? “We’ve been had!” I thought to myself. "Were there people with hidden agendas in that room?" The people who cared, who trusted us to make the right decisions for the Valley, were not. After that first meeting in January, I spoke Junior Posse will start soon! Boys & Girls ~ Ages 8 - 17 years old Call Madelyn or Marv Evans 745-3415 Babysitter horses needed! For all your Excavating Needs LANDSCAPE ROCK SOIL FILL DIRT GRAVEL ROAD BASE SEPTIC TANKS BASEMENTS WATERLINES SNOW REMOVAL TOP ESTABLISHED 1981 Visa and Mastercard Accepted OFFICE LOCATED AT 4786 EAST 2600 NORTH EDEN, UT 84310 745-2309 Office 745-6910 Fax with development, except comfort and convenience.” It stung again—the “newcomer” thing. It is strange that the “newcomers” are the majority on the committees. Is that why there was this perception, from some of the long time residents, that it was the newcomers who wanted to change their Valley? After becoming wiser during the past week, I have changed my mind. I do not believe that Eden should become a city—Eden should become a Township like Liberty. I have been told by many since I “woke up,” that Eden is a recreational resort area. And who can deny that, with all the wonderful natural assets we have here for biking, swimming, rock climbing, hiking, cycling, horse riding, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, skiing and fishing, that this is an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise! Ogden families on the other side of the mountains have been coming here for many years for a week’s vacation in “their” Valley. Yes, it is their Valley too! Lisa, who resigned as chairperson from 20/20, told me that we might be better off with having Weber County making our decisions because they are paid employees with no hidden agendas. After running the gauntlet, I tend to agree with her, but I am scared. What is the Valley going to look like in 10 to 20 years from now? Will we one day look down from the North Ogden Divide and see a sprawling city down yonder with wide apartment lined paved roads cutting through Eden, fast food restaurants, traffic lights, billboards and hotels—all the way to Powder Mountain and beyond? Perhaps a city with no wildlife or open spaces in sight? A watershed left unprotected? Would the smog we leave behind when we cross into the Valley come trailing along with the commercialization—unable to escape from the mountains that envelop her? Would the sky hawks and eagles leave and move to a yet unspoiled Valley? How far would they have to travel to find such a treasure? We might then put up a sign on the Ogden Divide like the one outside of Jackson Hole: “Down Yonder lies the last of the Old West.” But ours will read a bit differently: “Down yonder used to be a place called Eden—the last bastion of paradise.” Will we realize, too late, that we were wrong? That we deserted Eden when she needed us to stand guard over her unspoiled beauty? How would the epitaph on Eden’s gravestone read—like the one found in Tombstone? “Here lies Eden, hanged by mistake, 2003, She was right, we was wrong, but we strung her up, and now she’s gone . . .” And we will not smile . . . Drienie Hattingh, Eden EDITOR’S VIEW cont. from page 2 the matter? Oh yes, that reminds me of the most dangerous, and untrue, cliché of all: “There’s nothing we can do about development anyway!” Yes, there is. We can educate ourselves on the responsibilities that developers should be, and legally can be, expected to shoulder; and to insist that local authorities implement regulations and procedures that will ensure that they do. Perhaps not a cliché, the following is an argument for sewering the Valley that I’ve, also, often heard. Stop and consider the long time resident who articulates this argument: “Yes, I’m for progress. I’m tired of septic systems that don’t work, that back up and flood my basement.” Wouldn’t it just make more sense, economically, for one disgruntled resident to dig up and replace their old and dysfunctional septic system, than to install a multi-million dollar Valley wide sewer system? “Progress,” such a subjective term. What about the term “integrity”? Who is willing to compromise the integrity of the Valley for “convenience”? Have we really become so soft and shallow, that we can’t make the effort to shop downtown for major purchases to ensure the integrity of the upper Valley? Does anyone even care that downtown Ogden is dying? But why promote business and development in downtown Ogden when we can pave over Ogden Valley? Now here’s an idea for those who want it all in Ogden Valley—convenience and an easier lifestyle—like being able to live here isn’t blessing enough? No? Then let’s tear down all the deserted buildings in downtown Ogden, and build a nature preserve between Washington and Wall to accommodate all the wildlife that has been displaced by urban sprawl. Then we could shop until we drop in Ogden Valley, and expend are mental energy worrying about real critical issues, like, “Can you buy a CD player head set in Ogden Valley? Since the sounds of nature are long gone—the water in the creek has all been diverted for culinary use and to water golf courses, and most of the unique variety of birds have flown the coop—I’d like to listen to a CD on self-improvement while I’m on my daily jog. Anyway, the noise from the traffic—especially the dump trucks and cement trucks—is a real pain.” Or, maybe we would have an even heavier dilemma to deal with, “What sweater do you think I ought to buy, the cashmere or the mohair? What the “heck,” why not buy both of them? Now that we’ve sold the farm—the one that had been in the family for five generations— the sky’s the limit! I’ll conclude with a proverb. Unlike a cheap cliché, they’re often used to teach eternal truths. “There’s none so blind, as those who will not see.” |