It may have been a big success for Powder Mountain, but it was a nightmare for commuters and residents on the Powder Mountain road. The congested road was dangerous both for drivers and nearby residents. It simply is not big enough to handle thousands of vehicles over a short period of time, particularly very large vehicles, which were in abundance last weekend.
Standard-Examiner
OUR VIEW: Road to resort a problem
September 4, 2009
• OUR VIEW: Road to resort a problemThe residents of Ogden Valley have long been acutely aware of the inconvenience and outright danger the the Powder Mountain road presents. Sunday's rollover fatality is only the most recent deadly accident on that steep, narrow and winding road. The most recent previous rollover fatality occurred only in 2006; and that deadly accident still remains painfully fresh in the minds of local residents too.
Yes, the residents are well aware of the problem, as was the Ogden Valley Planning Commission in 2007, when that governmental body recommended a pared down Powder Mountain development plan, upon the conditional requirement that they construct a second, permanent all season road.
Of course conditional rezoning wasn't good enough for the Powder Mountain greedheads; and in the name of "private property rights," these developers thumbed their noses at Ogden Valley citizens and Weber County government regulators, and filed their ill-conceived petition for town incorporation.
At present, Powder Mountain is still pursuing its effort to perfect its township petition, to form a lackey company town government, and to ensure that government regulation will not impede its effort to add 10,000 new residential units to its planned mega-resort. This plan, of course, if brought to fruition, would increase the usage of the Powder Mountain road at least ten-fold.
Will the SE's appeal for an exercise in decency and common sense sway the Powder Mountain developers? Based on their track record, we have our serious doubts. But kudos to the Standard-Examiner for chiming in on this issue anyway. As a major opinion leader in Weber County, the Standard-Examiner said something this morning that needed to be said.
In our view, by the way, we believe the SE's sound argument against the staging of large off-season events also applies equally to Powder Mountain's planned year-round mega-development.
And what say our gentle readers about this?
