Hmmm.... On the heels of Tuesday night's debacle, wherein theWeber County Commission buckled under to Western America Holding 's blackmail demand to double the residential density in that cheesy intermediate-level ski area called Powder Mountain, we learn from the Standard-Examiner this afternoon that the 800 pound gorilla with the BIG MOUNTAIN on the south end of the Valley, namely Earl Holding (Snow Basin), has designs on substantially increased residential density too:
• Snowbasin plans long-term developmentHold on to your hats, Ogden Valley residents! It would appear that Sinclair Corp. smells blood in the water and possibly detects a weakling County Commission; and that under the guise of perfecting Transfer Of Development Rights (TDR's) Park City-Style Sprawl may be coming to Ogden Valley very soon.
"Fifty years"? My ass. This new development will be in the forefront immediately.
If Ogden Valley residents thought they had a tough time with Western America Holding (WAH), wait until they get a load of the heavyweight Sinclair Oil, while it jockeys for position to overdevelop its mountain to the hilt.
For those Ogden Valley residents who still desire a rural mountainesque atmosphere, we'll suggest they might consider buying land in Montana... or maybe Alaska. Even Siberia, maybe.
Sadly, with the cowardly buckling of the Weber County Commission, it's likely that the die is cast; and that the bucololic Ogden Valley of our recent memories may soon be no more.
And what say our gentle readers about all this?
Simple Question: With Sinclair Corp. re-entering the resort development ring, are the residents of Ogden Valley now totally screwed?
Update 6/5/10 7:00 a.m.: Di Lewis has produced a second expanded story on this topic this morning, this time suggesting that Snow Basin management is taking a far more even handed approach to this proposed development than its cross valley rival, Powder Mountain:
• Snowbasin proposes thousands of homesWill Snow Basin's massive planned expansion be conducted in a manner which will effectively mitigate further damage to Ogden Valley's rural atmosphere? Or does Snow Basin's participation in the current public planning process amount to mere window dressing? We suppose we'll have to wait and see as the plot develops, no?
16 comments:
Quick question: Where will Snowbasin acquire these TDR's? I thought Ogden Valley/Weber County residents already pawned most of these off back in 1999, when they cooperatively agreed to the current "General Plan." Does the Commission's recent capitulation to WAH invalidate the general plan?
Are we embarking on a whole new ball game here?
From whom exactly does Sinclair expect to purchase/extort these rights?
Our understanding is that Snow Basin has over 500 TDRs waiting to be used. The word on the street is Snow Basin has plans for both sides of Trapper's Loop for commercial development.
If Snow Basin goes for the same deal on the 3 acre minimum that was given to Powder Mountain, you can thank that spineless Weber County Commission.
Remember to thank Zogmaister at the ballot box this November.
Really, is anyone surprised?
As was mentioned earlier, time to widen Ogden Canyon.
And time for you to sell.
I don't think this is really news. Snow Basin's plans to create a 4 season destination resort were clear at the time of the land swap that preceded the Olympics. Not sure the story contains much by way of surprises except that the long-planned development is closer now to breaking ground.
Crum:
The change may be that in the future, Snow Basin may not purchase TDR's for development, but just demand the same exclusion from the three acre minimum for residential development that was handed to Powder Mountain. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. The real losers will be the Valley residents.
anyone who enjoys a Scenic Byway drive up or down or across Trapper's Loop will be losers in this game. The lovely fall colors will be obstructed at the very least, or [gasp] completely gone ... ahh, but we have been given this space to use and the people have to live somewhere! isn't that it? Not really, because the development is for an elite few who will afford second homes (and second multi-million dollar homes at that!): as the article says, only about 30% of residents in the planned development will be permanent residents. Ick! And me without my passport to Siberia!
js,
BB
What will be fun to watch is the Snow Basin lawyers bury the Weber County legal team if they are not provided the same exclusion on the three acre rule.
Remember, the three stooges (Weber County Commissioners) said that this Powder Mountain deal was unique and would never happen again.
Zogmaister's statement about not being comfortable is bull, she loves to give away Ogden Valley to the developers and always has.
Vote for Drew Johnson in November!
Well Biker Babe, rich folks gotta have a place to live too, that is unless we follow our old mantra from the 60's and just eat the rich!
One thing about those million dollar second homes that are only occupied on occasion - they pay full bore property tax, no home owner reductions, and they use very little of the public services that full time residents use.
Growth is unstoppable and the reality is that none of this, or the Powderville deal, will get build until and unless the economy comes around and the poor rich folks can once again afford to buy these units. Like that great American philosopher Dylan sang about - "The times they are a changing".
Also the building and occupying of these proposed units will create lots of jobs for construction and ongoing maintenance for us Hoi Polloi and our never ending progeny. Another benefit is that these sort of communities draw people who generally vote Democrat - something that is sorely needed in these parts.
I don't want to canonize Mr. Holding and his associates --- he and they have already demonstrated a willingness to get what they wanted through the back door when acting openly isn't working for them, and have demonstrated as well that their word's no good [remember the road Mr. Holding was going to pay to build to Snow Basin as part of the land swap deal? The one the taxpayers ended up paying for instead? Nuff said.]. Nevertheless, I found the following passages of the story significant:
Working with Snowbasin has been a dramatically different experience than working with Powder Mountain, said Kim Wheatley, GEM committee member and former Ogden Valley Planning Commission member.
He said Snowbasin worked hard on the resort zone and chose to work through that instead of trying to bypass it, he said.
Although both Clarke and Wheatley said they are not totally happy with the development, they are impressed with Snowbasin's effort to compromise and listen to concerns from valley residents in an attempt to reduce the impact.
But of course, "White Flag" Zogmaister and her Merrie Band of Caving Republicans on the Weber County Commission decided they had a better way which consisted of tugging their forelocks in cringing submission to the out-of-state Powderville jackals.
Well, lets Black Flag Zogmaister in this years elections.
I'm voting for Drew Johnson Seat A and Amy Wicks Seat B. Out with the old Real Estate and developer friendly crowd.
Hello people! I think we have another serious problem Weber County Commissioner race right here with this bloated Kerry Gibson character, who seems to believe he ought to be elected to the commission simply because he has a photogenic family and because he's 110% pure MoMo.
Here's my advice for what it's worth:
Reject Zogmaister in November.
Even if you don't want to throw Zogmaister overboard, reject this imbecile Gibson and vote for Wicks.
Better yet.. reject all real estate industry workers who run for ANY public office.
The above advice should be sufficient for Ogden Valley citizens.
Vote out slimy Realtors and their lackeys!
Comment moved to new article
Dump Zogmaister and Gibson.
I'm voting for T.R. Morgan Seat A and Amy Wicks Seat B. Out with the old. Lets bring in commissioners that will represent the people.
It's a pity after holding firm, the county commissioners caved at the crunch.
You don't win a lot of points doing that.
They may feel they had their backs against the wall and this was the best they could do. Maybe it was.
If so, they had better make their case clearly. Otherwise, they look like they threw in the white flag as Curm said.
BTW, thanks for returning to a former posting format. I like it better. Now if only we could get 95% of the laws off the books, 80% of public white collar workers laid off, and our taxes cut accordingly.
Oh, and bring back Orange Crush. And let us cruise the 'vard without motor laws, I say.
I really like this forum....but the constant demccrats will save the world is getting old...the are rats in all the holes.
Totally agree we need less government lawyers that my taxes are used to pay for them to do nothing with full bennies.
Opps....
Meant goverment loafers...not lawyers....about the same thing though.
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