Snowbasin rezone unanimously approved
We will include the article in its entirety below:
OGDEN -- Weber County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a rezoning request initiated by Snowbasin Resort Company.
The resort asked to rezone approximately 3,808 acres in Weber County at Snowbasin from forest valley land to the Ogden Valley Destination and Recreation Resort zone, which would allow the land to be developed for homes, condos, hotels and golf courses.
The unanimous decision by commissioners to approve the rezone request came several months after the initial request was presented in a public hearing in October 2010.
At the end of that meeting, commissioners asked the planning staff to prepare an ordinance and zoning development agreement, which passed during Tuesday's regular commission meeting.
In the request, Snowbasin Resort Company said it will limit resort developments to about 20 percent (755 acres) of the overall project area and avoid construction in sensitive lands.
It also will help protect wildlife by designing the resort in cluster development and compact areas, leaving just more than 3,000 acres of the overall project area as open space.
Weber County Planner Scott Mendoza said during the meeting that a reinvestment fee covenant will also be put into effect. That means Snowbasin will add a 1 percent fee to all initial sales of residential properties -- including lots, homes and condos -- that will be put into an account used to fund recreational amenities in the development.
"It will commit or obligate each person to reserve 1 percent of the purchase price," he said. "Then those funds are directed to benefit the community as a whole, like to use funds to possibly construct a park."
Commissioners asked few questions and expressed few concerns during Tuesday's meeting, and all three commissioners voted to grant the request.
"I think what we have come up with is good for everyone and should work," Commissioner Craig Dearden said after the request was approved.
The development plan also covers 8,000 acres in Morgan County, making the entire project nearly 12,000 acres.
It is estimated it could take at least 50 years to develop the project, and building will depend on market demand.
Snowbasin has become the darling of the commission, which wasn't all that big of a feat following the Powder Mountain Town fiasco. While Snowbasin is the big player in town wielding the big guns and will ultimately get any concessions they ask for, Snowbasin chose to at least make an honest attempt to work with the County officials and residents within the framework of the ordinances. That's kind of how government is supposed to work.
What say our Ogden Valley Faithful?
