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Show Volume XXX Issue XII The Ogden Valley News Page 3 April 1, 2023 Letters to the Editor Editor’s View Thank You Ogden Valley – Ukraine Disaster Relief The Ongoing Saga of STRs in Ogden Valley The Mad Moose “Rough Rider” team recently sent your donations to The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This donation’s purpose is designed to support displaced Ukrainian families. Thank you to all the people and customers of Ogden Valley—“you” have made a difference and should feel proud of this… because we—all—can always do something! Our team of “Rough Riders” take their roll seriously as “The Valley’s” focal point for Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HADR). We make certain all relief donations get to the right place (ICRC) to support people in need when disasters erupt. Having commanded Functional Specialist Teams for the U.S. Army USASOC (U.S. Army Special Operations Command), I have led humanitarian assistance military operations—including diplomatic and non-government organizations—intended to relieve human suffering and assist those in the most need. Yup, I know the business. Throughout 2022, “The Rough Riders” have graciously collected your donations in $10 increments in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s horrific criminal attack against the people of Ukraine, which China’s misguided leadership supports. Putin’s crimes have resulted in millions of families fleeing for their lives into Western Europe—a weapon of mass destruction to be sure. What a historic tragedy! Not only for the millions of mothers and children of Ukraine, but also for the families of fallen soldiers on both sides of Putin’s irresponsible and epic crimes against humanity. Putin’s atrocities are a challenge to “The West’s” rule-of-law, human-rights-embracing values. The world must rid itself of Thugocracies who dismiss out-of-hand human rights, deny the rule of law, and inflict such suffering, human toll, at their whim while holding their people hostage to their misguided and criminal aims. Folks, America is the only thing that stands between the criminal authoritarian regimes that thwart human rights and rule of law on the global stage. Be proud of the country you are part of. Without America, the world tips to the dark forces that seek to advance their own greed for power, tyrannize their people, and enrich their cohorts (Let me be clear: Putin’s Thugocracy, Beijing’s Communist Party, North Korea’s ruthless regime, and Iran’s Theocracy). These players want to hurt America and are actively at work to undermine the light we bring to the world. We are so worth preserving and leading the way. The world’s people want us and need us. I know, this is a gratuitous patriotic political commentary, but it’s right. When folks desire to do something in an emergency that’s far, far away, but feel as though their hands are tied and they can do little, there is a place where you can go and be assured your contribution gets delivered into the hands of the right people who can do the most good for those in need—Mad Moose Café, your Valley’s Humanitarian Assistance/ Disaster Relief Headquarters. When you feel inspired to make a difference, no matter how large or small, come to Mad Moose and ask one of the Rough Rider’s how you, too, can make a difference. Mad Moose—a place where “Victory” is assured, and pretty good sandwiches are served there, too! COL Mike “Mad Moose” Seguin (USA Retd), Eden The Weber Fire District reminds homeowners to check their home electrical and gas meters to ensure that they are not threatened by snow or ice chunks. In Huntsville, snow slid o昀昀 the roof and knocked the meter mast partially o昀昀 the home’s exterior wall, causing arcing, which then shut o昀昀 power to the home. Photo courtesy of Weber Fire District Captain Kevin Sheridan. I found it quite interesting that after about 2½ years of begging our Weber County Commissioners to adopt an STR ordinance to better regulate and manage their unbounded, outof-control and predominantly illegal use in Ogden Valley, finally, a long-awaited STR ordinance was passed and a third-party consulting group hired to help get a handle on the illegal, unregulated, and unlicensed STRs in the this valley. Hoorah! However, the celebration was short lived, as State Representative Calvin R. Musselman from Weber County’s District 9, a realtor, introduced and sponsored HB 291, which called for an STR pilot program, allowing municipalities, or counties, to participate in a new program that would allow—even mandate—STRs in no less than 10% of the total residential units within the county’s unincorporated land area (no matter the land use zone); offer amnesty to the owners of any existing STRs as of the date the program was adopted—even if the illegal STRs existed in a zone or under circumstances in which STRs are not allowed under county ordinance; and allow existing illegal STRs to continue operating without penalty. In essence, the bill would reward owners and operators of illegal STRs for breaking the law! And why would a county want to opt into HB 291’s pilot program? Other than for obvious reasons (one Weber County’s commissioner is a local realtor and broker, and has every personal economic incentive to do so), a county would have been incentivized, economically, for participating in the proposed pilot program by allowing collected transient room taxes to be used to: • Establish and promote tourism and recreation, 昀椀lm production, and conventions. • Acquire, lease, construct, furnish, maintain, or operate convention meeting rooms, exhibit halls, visitor info centers, museums, and sports and rec facilities, including practice 昀椀elds, stadiums, and arenas, and related facilities. • Acquire land, lease land, or make payments for construction or infrastructure improvements. • Make the annual payment of principal, interest, premiums, and necessary reserves for any of the aggregate of authorized bonds. • … depending on the percentage of transient room tax collected, use the funds for destination development and visitor management. • Mitigate the impact of tourism. • Provide a昀昀ordable housing. While HB 291 stalled and was eventually pulled, never making it to Governor Cox’s desk for his signature, it did sail through both the senate and house, narrowly missing becoming state law. Were our current commissioners counting on its passage? It is my belief that they were. In this way, they could have become the hero for finally adopting an STR ordinance, while counting on the ordinance being over- turned shortly thereafter through no fault of their own. An article in the March 15 issue of The Ogden Valley News by Laurel Dudley, “The Future of Short-Term Vacation Rentals in Weber County,” quoted Weber County planner Bill Cobabe, who repeatedly left the door open, via his comments, to upcoming changes in the county’s recently passed STR ordinance that would expand STR uses in Ogden Valley. For instance, Cobabe is quoted as saying encouragingly, in regard to possible forthcoming exceptions to the county’s newly passed STR ordinance, “To wait.” “Then in a few months, or maybe a year, come back and say, hey, now that everything’s all ironed out and everything’s running smoothly, maybe it’s time to start considering these exceptions to the rules.” The article reads, “Cobabe urged people to ‘stay tuned and continue to give their input.’ ‘Nothing is ever perfect, especially not on the first go. We’ll be looking to make tweaks and changes and revisions as the enforcement comes online.’” The article continues, “additional changes to the ordinance could be triggered by state legislation [HB 291]. If a state bill is passed, as State Rep. Musselman expects, that means counties will need to comply.” Thank heavens, HB 291 did not pass! In addition, some conversations with code enforcement officer Iris Hennon left one wondering, at times, as her comments inferred possible future changes to the newly adopted STR ordinance—even since the defeat of HB 291. In a phone interview with Representative Musselman on March 23, I posed this question: Would he take another swing at passing similar legislation next year that could expand STRs? He hedged a bit but stated that he probably wouldn’t. He did state, however, that down at the legislature, he is known as the “property rights” guy, and, in his view, as a realtor for the past 30 years, STRs are about property rights. He noted adamantly that a person’s rights extend no farther than their own personal property boundary. Even if one lived in a subdivision with set laws and ordinances that the development was approved under, a person living there who invested in that neighborhood, should have no say in what another neighbor does with their lot in that subdivision. Period. While this flies in the face of well-established urban planning law, these are the assumptions that way too many elected officials make law and govern law by as they continue to moonlight as Utah realtors and developers. One has to ask, who are they really representing? When it comes to the fate of STRs in Ogden Valley, the saga continues. Yes, as Cobabe suggests, there’s nothing more to do but “To wait” and see what happens next. |