It is almost laughable that Mr. Arnold, one of the Powder Mountain owners, was quoted in today’s Std-Ex as saying he didn’t want to do anything immoral, but did exactly that. By using the recently adopted HB466, the Powder Mountain developers will bypass any oversight and controls by Weber County on planning and development. It doesn’t seem to matter at all to Powder Mountain that the people of Ogden Valley who will be most affected by the traffic and density changes, will have no say in the impact of those changes.
As it stands, HB466, originally intended to cut the red tape for the process of incorporating small Utah townships, has instead become an unintended mechanism allowing slick developers to thumb their noses at county zoning regulations. Such seems certainly the situation with respect to the now pending Powder Mountain municipal incorporation application, judging from the comments of Mr. Arnold noted today. The defects of HB466 have also caught the attention of at least a few legislators, and the Utah Association of Counties has made it a high priority to steer this legislation back to the legislative floor for remedial modification in order to bring Utah counties back into the municipal approval process.
The serious issue that Powder Mountain cannot resolve with this proposed incorporation is the road up to the resort. Anyone who currently uses that road is fully aware that the road is inadequate and dangerous for the projected resort traffic based on Powder Mountain’s own traffic study, and there is no easy resolution in sight for this traffic issue. In addition, the traffic increase on Ogden Valley roads will exceed anything the residents have ever experienced in the Valley’s history.
We should also reexamine the facts of conflict of interest regarding Jamie Lythgoe. This issue was brought before the OVPC last year but rejected based on Ms. Lythoge’s assurance that there was no conflict of interest. We wonder now how the other OVPC commissioners feel having been sandbagged by one of their own. She has now signed on as a petitioner to a scheme designed solely to subvert a reasoned decision of a commission of which she is a member! That is absolutely outrageous. It is clear now that she and her family stand to gain from this development. Accordingly, she has been actively engaged in support for the incorporation.
Your VCRD Staff
Rozinante said...
ReplyDeleteI find it very "interesting" if not coincidental that the Senator who sponsored HB 466, which makes it easier for a developer to incorporate an area into a Town. And then lets the developers pick who will be on the town council and planning commission once a new town has been formed, was sponsored by Senator Sheldon Killpack (R) Dist 21 (Davis County). And guess who was the single highest non political contributor to his campaign? ANSWER: The Utah Realtor's Association. Join the Machman in making all our citizens aware of this nefarious realtor/developer influence on our communities.
Minor Machman said...
ReplyDeleteThey (Realtor Assoc.) may be for private property rights, but they sure as hell are not for environmental controls, air quality, or organized and planned communities or the stability of a community. No. They are for profits and fast bucks at the expense of other's property rights, air quality, water quality, and community stability. And it seems Senator Killpack was "appointed to the Senate in 2003" (by whom?) and then Elected in 2004 (by Davis County voters). Ironically, he serves as the Co-chair of the Trans. & Environmental Quality subcommittee. MM