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Show Volume XV Issue VI The Ogden Valley news Page March 1, 2008 Guest Commentary Powder Mountain Town? Our Take of the “Neighborhood” Meetings & What’s Happening in Powderville I was talking to a friend from Eden yesterday and he asked me how the incorporation of “Powderville” was going. The name kind of stuck on me because it sounded like the area of town that was located on the other side of the tracks. You know, that part of town where the services were not quite so good and those people live there. So forgive me but there it is: Powderville. This is where a series of meetings was held last weekend in our neighbors’ homes with one of the investors of Powder Mountain and here’s my take on it. The meetings were organized by Maura Carbello of the Exoro Group, a public relations firm representing the investors group. Attendees were Maura Carbello, Paul Norris, and Nicol Cottle, project managers for the investors, and Mark Arnold, one of the investors. They gave a short presentation explaining that they wanted to share their point of view, one on one, with us and to listen to our concerns. One of the points Mark Arnold made was that this fight was for the investor’s property rights. He explained that the county refused his requests for rezone, and Huntsville Town had submitted a letter saying they didn’t like the rezone; this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We pointed out that the county never turned him down for the requested rezone; as a matter of fact, the Ogden Valley Planning Commission had on December 10, 2007, approved their request for new zoning providing they comply with 19 conditions. (A condensed version of the conditions is attached.) The county commissioners were scheduled to vote on the rezone this winter. Mark said he felt that was well and good but since the law gave them an opportunity to incorporate and take complete control of their own destiny, they chose to incorporate. We pointed out that, if successful, he would have his property rights but he would be taking ours away. He said that was sort of true but we would, in a couple of years, be in complete control—only after we elect our own town council. At this point we should look at the property rights that the investors currently have and try and understand why they feel they had to fight for their property rights. As purchased today, the existing zoning would grant them 1,223 units with no cluster bonus, or 1,477 units with the maximum cluster bonus. No one has tried to take away any of these development rights from the investors. The fact is, the investors have been trying to change the property rights to include the following: •A ski resort expected to service 8,500 skiers on a typical peak day and have an overall skier capacity of 10,000 skiers per day (at build-out over the entire resort in both coun- ties). •805 single-family dwellings •2090 multi-family units (town home, condominium and/or condo-hotel). •1-4 Hotels consisting of 500 hotel rooms. •11 corporate retreats/community clubs (a total of 180 rooms). •60,000 square foot recreation center/facility. •300,000 square feet of commercial uses (primarily retail, restaurant and resort village). Protest organizer Deja Mitchell. •Ski resort facilities including 2 lodges in Weber County, 1 (40,000 sq. ft.) lodge in Cache County, support facilities, maintenance etc. •Two 18 hole golf courses with club house and maintenance facilities. •A fire station and public safety building (planned to be a Weber County Fire District facility that also houses Weber County Sheriff services). •(40,000 sq. ft.) Equestrian Facility. •An airport with a transportation facility (40,000 sq. ft.) and emergency heli-pads. All of the above will be built and serviced through the road that passes through our little lower town of “Powderville” and the rest of Ogden Valley. After the presentation, one of us asked what the benefits to the incorporation for the residents were. Mark said one of the most important benefits would be local control. We explained that we understood the investors would be hand picking the first town council, and fully expected they would do exactly what the investors wanted. Mark said they would be totally independent and act in any manner they thought right and prudent. In that case, we asked if we could elect our own council and POWDERVILLE cont. on page 15 To the Citizens of Powderville . . . Kimbal L. Wheatley I see you have begun calling your town Powderville, a place with a puppet government explicitly designed to bypass the laws, rules, and regulations all the rest of us have agreed to live by. In this incredible conflict-of interest circus, the Powderville town council is appointed by a few men who stand to make hundreds of millions if the town laws are just right, who dole out the town budget in the form of a loan, and who have their lawyers write all the laws. Only after the new laws are in place and the town is approaching bankruptcy do the residents of Powderville get to vote. In respect for the sentiments of Valley residents forced into Powderville, I will refer to these few men as the perpetrators, or “PERPS” for short, rather than one of the more unseemly names I have heard them called. I have sensed that many of you are getting discouraged and feeling helpless at the hands of the PERPS and my purpose here is to rally the troops. In fact, we are only in round one of this fight, and things are not nearly as hopeless as they may seem. We clearly own the moral high ground and Valley residents are uniting . . . these are good assets to have. The PERPS got real greedy when they decided they could make a couple hundred million dollars more on their Powder Mountain deal if they could sell two or three times the number of homes, condos, and hotels allowed on the property they just bought. Never mind that the allowed density was based on decades of solid reasoning and zoning rules to balance development against what our infrastructure, water, and watershed can support. Never mind that ten years earlier, residents of Ogden Valley gave up their own development rights (via down zoning) to stay within the carrying capacity of the Valley. When UDOT, DWR, the Ogden Valley Planning Commission, and loads of Valley residents expressed serious reservations about the impact of such a massive increase in density, the PERPS found a loophole they think will allow them to get their excessive density by forming Powderville, thereby ignoring the planning issues of Ogden Valley. We now know that HB 466 was flawed enough for the Utah Senate and House to change it, allowing residents in future new Utah towns to vote. But, given that some important people in the Utah State Legislature and the Utah League of Cities and Towns are on the payroll of one or more of the PERPS, it wasn’t surprising that they let Powderville slide through. Our own representative, Gage Froerer, is pursuing retroactive application to Powderville in his house bill; good luck Gage, but I hear the law firm owned by the speaker of the house is on the payroll. However, there is at least one big issue left that the PERPS have to deal with to finish squeezing through the loophole. Wolf Creek Resort has filed a petition to withdraw 160 acres of their resort that the PERPS included in Powderville. If the county commissioners grant the withdrawal, the boundaries will have to be redrawn and they may not reach the 50% valuation criterion of HB466; a citizen watchdog group is monitoring the situation. Even so, we have to assume the PERPS will figure out a way to bypass more rules, and Powderville will become reality. It may appear that all is lost, but residents of Powderville should take heart. All we know for sure is, the PERPS are some particularly bad actors, driven solely by greed, who could care less about your rights and your votes, let alone your opinion. They used a mistake in the law to run over your way of life and your beliefs about democracy, asserting they have every legal right to do so. They sent letters and PR people to tell you about Powderville, describing in excruciating detail how your opinion simply does not count. But despite the loophole HB 466 put into the law, they are not able to completely abridge your rights as citizens of Powderville, Weber County, the State of Utah, and the United States of America. The PERPS have also underestimated the power of the rest of the residents of Ogden Valley. They seem to think we will just sit back and accept a development the size of Brigham City on top of Powder Mountain just because they found a legal loophole allowing them to do it. The Huntsville Town Council was the first elected body to stand up to the PERPS and say “No.” Why did Huntsville say no? Because the oversized resort will exceed the capacity of both Ogden Canyon and the intersection at Pineview dam where “frequent traffic disruptions will be experienced” (UDOT jargon). So the backed up traffic has to take the county road around the east side of the reservoir and through Huntsville to get to Trappers Loop. Huntsville residents were simply shocked to see plans for two stop lights in their town to handle Powderville traffic. Then they started thinking about inversions and pollution from 10,000 SUV trips a day. And we can be heartened by citizens hitting the streets over President’s Day weekend to carry signs of protest, making sure that PERP customers know what is happening. I am hearing some pretty interesting ideas from these folks about how to get the PERPS to listen to reason. One is a full-blown BOYCOTT POWDER MOUNTAIN movement, certain to shine the spotlight of regional, if not national, attention on the shameless activities of the PERPS. As the residents of Powderville stand up to the PERPS, as you surely will, you will not be standing alone. The rest of the Valley is in this with you, and we have resources and skills to help. In that spirit, here are some thoughts on what you (and we) can do. To form the government of Powderville, the CITIZENS cont. on page 17 |