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Show Volume XXX Issue IV The Ogden Valley News Page 3 October 1, 2023 Letters to the Editor Way昀椀nding Signs Must Come Down Finding out that almost a half a million dollars went into the county’s wayfinding sign fiasco is shocking. No wonder people have such little faith in government and the people who work in government. It was crazy for our representatives to think that it was a good use of our money, during these times of economic challenge and increasing taxes, to spend it on something like these appalling signs! These are my personal views and opinions; however, I am currently an Ogden Valley Planning Commissioner so I have a pretty good understanding of the Ogden Valley General Plan and I can say that, without question, the signs are not consistent with the primary premise of that plan. They step all over it, they’re obtrusive, and they’re in no way in sync with our rural scenic community. The roads they have been placed on are designated by the state as scenic byways, but these giant signs are anything but scenic; they’re ugly. They’re ridiculous. They’re out of proportion. They’re overdone, they invade the environment in a way that those who actually live here would not have agreed to them if they’d have known exactly what the plan was. Nineteen years ago, I first came to this valley in the middle of the night during a blizzard. I found my lodging just fine. The next morning, during the same blizzard, I found my way to Powder Mountain without getting hopelessly lost and wandering around in neighborhoods. I didn’t have a smart phone and I didn’t have navigation in my vehicle, but, somehow, I made it. As a Planning Commission volunteer, I’ve spent a lot of time with the Ogden Valley General Plan, putting effort into trying to maintain this valley in the way the plan intends. The morning I first saw those signs, I felt like I had been wasting my time, as in no way do they provide any enhancement to this valley. When I was told the state dictated the size, I asked for the name of the person at the state so I could speak to them directly. I was not given that information. I would like to personally hear for myself the justification, and to know what other alternatives were available. With that much money being spent and the signs stepping all over the Ogden Valley General Plan’s primary premise, this is certainly an unfortunate situation but one that I think only has one remedy… these giant bright blue wayfinding signs need to come down! Je昀昀 Barber, Huntsville Ogden Valley’s Current Development Plans Are Neither Desirable nor Sustainable As a concerned resident and a stakeholder in our Ogden Valley community, I believe it is imperative that the county begins following the primary vision of our current Ogden Valley General Plan—where physical development complements, not overwhelms or competes with our Valley’s rural character. The current tearing up of our valley’s hills and the valley floor with hasty development should be a wakeup call to us all. As a lifelong resident of Eden, and someone who loves the Valley for its pristine beauty and quiet lifestyle, I have become acutely aware of the acceleration of big development going on in Ogden Valley. I learned while attending an Ogden Valley Planning Commission meeting on May 23 that the practice of Transferring Development Rights (TDRs) is one of the loopholes that is allowing our Valley to be developed at an alarming rate. TDRs were instituted and added to the general plan eight years ago. I didn’t even know what a TDR was until I attended the meeting in May. Here is what I learned: TDRs are a zoning tool where landowners can sell their development rights from off their land to a developer who can then use these rights to create higher-density development on their property’s location. TDR equates to additional build-up in one area in exchange for the surrender of development rights or building on another. However, the reality is, those rights were probably sitting on land that, more than likely, would not have been developed anyway. The Valley has never been more torn up than it has in the last six to seven years. TDRs are one of the reasons why. TDRs need to be stopped or they will be the downfall of the Valley as we know it. Would you rather have residential homes on three acre lots or highdensity high-rise condos and mixed-use developments covering the valley floor? Which one aligns more with the agriculture nature of the Valley? We must demand that our county commissioners revisit the eight-year-old general plan and look at the effects that TDRs are having on this valley; the future of Ogden Valley depends on it. We must slow down the rate of development and create a more sustainable model. I also learned in the May 23, 2023 OV Planning Commission meeting that TDRs were set up for residential development not commercial. Currently in Eden, a developer is trying to push a high-density commercial/residential development through TDRs and yet, TDRs SUSTAINABLE cont. on page 12 Editor’s View When Will the Madness Stop? The long-awaited results are in for the Upper Valley Sewer Study, though there was no formal announcement to the community by the county, who sponsored and paid Sunrise Engineering to complete it. A January 2020 article in The Ogden Valley News stated that the projected cost of the study was $80 thousand dollars. A GRAMA request was not filed to determine the actual cost. The recent 2023 study’s summary—found in section 1.3.3—concludes, “The study has… demonstrated the need for nutrient pollution control programs to incorporate best management practices for lawns, especially in areas where lawns occupy a large fraction of the land.” Best management practices named were precision fertilizer and water applications and enhancement of the soil’s organic matter content to levels that enhance the water holding capacities of course textured soils. Wow, this sounds simple enough! The study also indicates that the leaching of nitrates from cropland fertilization is a far greater problem affecting water quality than that created by septic system drain-field leaching, which should be expected, since, the study says, there’s currently more cropland than residential leach fields in our valley. However, the study adds, this shouldn’t negate “the importance of proper management of wastewater discharge to groundwater because the high leaching rates are a clear indicator of the threat that sewage effluent poses to ground water….” In spite of these findings—croplands and lawns being the major nitrate-releasing culprits impacting groundwater quality—the study goes on in elaborate detail, describing how centralized sewer collection and treatment systems could be developed to mitigate nitrate levels in our groundwater. However, the cost for just one new area wastewater treatment facility servicing a limited area of the valley would cost about $60 million (in yesterday’s dollars), “for construction costs alone.” The piping and pump stations to get it there will be millions more. Additional facilities they talk about could bring the cost of facility construction closer to $150 million in yesterday’s dollars. The study then details how these costs could be covered—not by developers, but primarily by our tax dollars, including Utah state funds; Biden’s America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds; Utah Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Water Quality low-interest loans and/or “hardship grants”; DEQ Division of Drinking Water low-interest loans/or hardship grants; Utah Division of Water Resources low-interest loans; additional grant money equaling up to 2 million dollars; USDA loans; Community Development Block Grants (CDBG); user rates and impact fees, which also raise housing costs. One has to ask, wouldn’t it be a whole lot simpler and cheaper, and much less intrusive to the community and the environment, to require each individual home builder to put in an updated, highly efficient septic system when they build? This technology is now available. If the county is so excited about spending tax dollars, heck, they could even dole out $1 or $2 million to pay for Valley residents to upgrade their older, less efficient septic systems, or use these millions upon millions to purchase conservation easements for targeted, sensitive properties, compensating our much-appreciated large landowners’ land to remain as open space—no fertilizers needed! Now these efforts would really support the Valley’s general plan while also addressing the primary source of pollution in Ogden Valley! Why has the county been so focused on throwing millions of dollars to assist development and growth, especially high-density development—including hotels and city centers—when our general plan clearly calls for county leaders to support and sustain our “rural atmosphere” here in Ogden Valley? Why is our single Valley commissioner so interested in real estate development? Hmmm…. In the most recent past, the commissioners have thrown their support behind a $25 millionplus unwanted project to pipe the Huntsville canal. By the way, in a state of Utah report, current seepages from the canal help dilute groundwater pollution. That’s a good thing, right? Also, the millions of dollars to pipe the canal will never be recaptured by this valley’s valued farmers who use the canal water to grow, primarily, alfalfa. How many extra alfalfa bales will they have to sell to make the cost of piping the canal economically viable? The commissioners have also spent almost $500 thousand dollars to pay for invasive, outof-place, large behemoth tourism wayfinding signs that, clearly, the Ogden Valley community neither nor wants or needs. And now, the commissioners are pushing for a new $60 million-plus wastewater treatment center that isn’t needed nor probably wanted by a majority in the community. With centralized sewer comes high-density growth, which goes against our general plan, all while our taxes continue to skyrocket! When will the madness stop? Plan on attending the Tuesday, September 26 planning meeting at 5:00 p.m. at the Ogden Valley library where current sewer proposals will be under consideration. You may view the evening’s agenda at webercountyutah.gov/ planning/documents/uploads/2023-OVPC%20 August%2022,%202023%20Agenda.pdf. You may also review the newly released sewer study at webercountyutah.gov/ Engineering/documents/upper-valley-northsewer-study-2023-08-11.pdf. |