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Show Volume XXX Issue IX The Ogden Valley News Page 3 July 15, 2023 Editor’s View Say No to County’s E昀昀ort to Eliminate Greenspace! On July 18, the Weber County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on a proposed zoning amendment, allowing the county’s landscape requirements to be altered in favor of Weber Basin Conservancy District’s “turf removal incentive” program, also known as “flip your strip.” Science holds that, long term, this is a really bad idea! While conserving water is a great idea, ripping out green vegetation isn’t. There are many reasons why. Science shows that greenspaces: 1. Lower blood pressure 2. Lower heart rates 3. Decrease anxiety 4. Improve overall mental and physical health 5. Clean the air we breath 6. Clean surface waters 7. Support underground aquifers 8. Minimize drought conditions 9. Minimize 昀氀ooding 10. Slows evapotranspiration, the process by which water moves from land surfaces to the atmosphere via evaporation and transpiration 11. Protect biological diversity 12. Cool the environment 13. Cool and moderate the impact of urban heat islands composed of roof tops, blacktop, concrete, rock, and other non-green materials. The American Planning Association wrote a white paper that notes that greenspaces adjacent to residential areas “have been shown to create neighborhoods with fewer property crimes and violent crimes, and neighborhoods where neighbors tend to support and protect one another.” The findings came from studies by the University of Illinois, which studied greenspace alongside public housing in Chicago. Additional research on greenspace came to the same conclusion. Greenspace relieves mental fatigue, decreasing inattentiveness, irritability, and impulsivity. As Utah continues to grow, adding to the number and size of urban heat islands, the need for greenspace is heightened. This is not the time to be ripping out greenspace, or limiting ratios between hard, impermeable surfaces and valuable permeable and green, water-retentive spaces. Joseph MacDonald writes, “The urban heat island effect, and its mostly negative consequences of modified temperature, wind, precipitation, and air quality patterns, is the primary instigator of local climate change. Continued urbanization of the global population will only hasten further change. The increasing impact of urban heat islands on local climates may eventually translate to more widespread climate change, possibly global, if left unchecked. “Parks [and greenways and open space] are the best line of defense against these changes. Urban parks cool and clean the air, improve and modify local wind circulations, and better regulate precipitation patterns. Well-vegetated parks, in a variety of forms and sizes, mitigate EDITOR’S VIEW cont. on page 12 WFRC cont. from page 1 new electric buses, expansion of the GreenBike program in Salt Lake City and Ogden, widening of 1200 West in Brigham City, as well as expansion of the Davis Weber Canal Trail. Additionally, WFRC seeks public input on the Draft Public Participation Plan which is updated every four years. WFRC is committed to giving everyone the opportunity to participate and stay informed in regional planning decisions. The Public Participation Plan describes the many ways WFRC encourages early and continuous public involvement in its activities. The public is invited to review and provide comments on the draft Plan now through August 8, 2023. Public comment can be provided via webform, emailing communications@wfrc.org, mailing comments to WFRC, as well as providing comments in person. Requests for information, questions, or comments may be directed to Mike Sobczak via e-mail at msobczak@wfrc.org, @WasatchCouncil on Twitter, or via mail to 41 North Rio Grande Street, Suite 103, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. -- Weber County -Public Hearing Notice is hereby given that the Ogden Valley Planning Commission will hold a public hearing during their meeting on July 18, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. at the Weber Center located at 2380 Washington Blvd, Ogden on the first floor in the commission chambers. The following item will be considered: • ZTA 2023-04: A county-initiated ordinance amendment to implement water wise landscaping regulations that align with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District turf removal incentives. Questions or comments regarding this proposal can be sent to Steve Burton at sburton@webercountyutah.gov. Notice Of Special Accommodation During Public Meetings - In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals needing special accommodations (including auxiliary communicative aids and services) during this meeting should notify county offices at 801-399-8794. Accommodations include: • Elevator Ground Floor Meeting Room • Digital Meeting Recording System For more information, contact the planning office at 801-399-8761. ... Because life is too short to hate your hair. Huntsville Turkey Feeding Dispute Balloons into Court Fight By Tim Vandenack For five years, says Greg Stuart, the neighborhood around his second home in Huntsville has become the stomping grounds for turkeys, much to his chagrin. A pair of neighbors, he says, put feed out for the birds during the fall and winter, drawing them at time in droves. The big birds leave droppings all over the place, damage trees where they roost and pose a health hazard. In response, he and others have tried to get the neighbors to stop the feeding, to no avail, and now the issue has turned into a court battle. Call it a dispute over how friendly urban dwellers should get with wild animals. Stuart says his neighbors have also started putting out feed for deer, drawing the four-legged animals into their Huntsville neighborhood as well. “All we’re trying to do is put a stop to it. We’ve been trying to get them to stop this for five years,” said Stuart, whose full-time home is in Bountiful. The residents have talked to the one neighbor they say initiated the efforts “on numerous occasions. The sheriff’s office, animal control has talked to her. The city has talked to her.” Stuart and two sets of neighbors—six people in all—filed suit in 2nd District Court in Ogden in April seeking a court order putting a stop to the feeding and now the case winds its way through the judicial system. They also seek damages of no less than $50,000. Particularly irksome for them is the fact that Huntsville officials haven’t taken more forceful action, though a town ordinance specifically prohibits feeding of turkeys, among other wild animals. Stuart has repeatedly asked town officials why they don’t cite the turkey feeders, he said, “and I don’t get an answer.” If they did act, he thinks that might put an end to the feeding. The defendants—Margot Smelzer, whose backyard partially abuts Stuart’s backyard, and a couple across the street from her, Kenith and Karoline Peterson—didn’t immediately respond to queries seeking comment, nor did their lawyer. But while acknowledging in their court response that they’ve fed turkeys—though not deer — they argue the plaintiffs don’t have a legitimate cause of action, among other things. The cases, they say, should be dismissed. Stuart and his neighbors filed separate suits against Smelzer and the Petersons, levying the same charges. Smelzer initiated the feeding in the yard behind her house, Stuart maintains, and the Petersons over the years have helped her. “As long as she continues to feed them, they’re going to show up,” Stuart said. “She feels sorry for the turkeys, sorry for the deer.” He’s noted as many as 300 birds on occasion come to feed. They’ve damaged trees where they roost, left his yard and the roof of his home covered with droppings and also led to problems with the gutters on his house caused by accumulated feces. “To protect their property from damage, Plaintiffs must continually scrape such feces from their roofs, decks and patios. Turkey feces has a noxious smell and removal of hardened turkey feces is extremely difficult,” read the lawsuits. “Since Defendants began feeding wild turkeys, Plaintiffs have removed buckets of feces from their roofs, risking bodily injury from slipping or falling from a ladder or roof as well as injury from exposure to the human pathogens turkey feces are known to carry.” Officials from Huntsville and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, or DWR, have tried—with limited success—to contend with the feathery critters. Huntsville Mayor Richard Sorensen, while acknowledging the city’s wild animal ordinance, said it’s the DWR—not local officials — that has authority over wildlife. He TURKEY cont. on page 13 |