'Devil's in the Details'
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Tuesday, November 6, 2007 | 
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Marshall Thompson
Standard-Examiner staff
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By Marshall Thompson
Standard-Examiner staff
Cache County officials are watching intently to see what planning commissioners in Weber will decide next month about Powder Mountain's plans for a massive four-season resort.
The Powder Mountain land, owned primarily by Western America Holdings, straddles the border of Weber and Cache counties in one of the more remote and pristine areas in Northern Utah. It's so remote, in fact, that only one road reaches the site, coming up from the Ogden Valley below.
"There will be no access from the Cache County side other than by air," said Cache County Councilman Cory Yeates. "Since we have no plans to build a road, we want to be able to work with Weber County, especially when it comes to emergency issues. At the same time, we understand there are issues there on transportation."
During the last meeting of the Ogden Valley Planning Commission, on Oct. 23, Fehr & Peers, a traffic consulting firm, testified that traffic on Powder Mountain Road would be almost seven times in 2013 what it is today, and by 2019, daily trips to Powder Mountain could skyrocket from 1,500 to 15,000.
In Weber, the expansion would include 610 single-family homes, 850 townhomes and condos, 320 hotel rooms, five lodges, two 18-hole golf courses and one firehouse. On the Cache Valley side, the expansion would consist of a hotel and about 800 dwelling units, said Wendell Morse, Cache County's development services director.
Given the situation, Yeates said, it's not unreasonable to expect Powder Mountain to have all the financing, interlocal and service agreements worked out before Cache County signs off on the project.
"It looks good on paper, but the devil's in the details and in the financing," he said.
From 2001
Plans for the expanded development at Powder Mountain first came before the Cache County Planning Commission in 2001, but lacked financial backing and eventually fell apart. In December 2005, the Cobabe family, the original owners of the resort, and Western America Holdings presented a similar plan.
After a few months of workshops with the Cache planning department, the planning commission recommended that the Cache County Council give Powder Mountain six months to iron out all the different agreements and provide some evidence of financial backing, Yeates said. After several months passed, he thought the project was dead because he hadn't heard anything from the developers. Then, just before the deadline, Western America Holdings asked for more time.
"They wanted another extension, which we were glad to grant," Yeates said. "We wanted them to get everything lined up so the development agreement could proceed."
The council warned at that time that they would not grant another extension, he said.
But on Oct. 23, Powder Mountain asked for a third extension, which was preceded by an Oct. 16 letter from attorney James Jardine threatening to sue the county, Yeates said. The council voted 4-2 in favor of the extension.
Yeates had to leave the meeting early, but said he would have voted against giving any more time to the Powder Mountain developers.
"We live in such a litigious society and people can threaten to sue for anything," Yeates said. "I find it funny that because they failed to meet the requirements laid out by the council and the planning commission, that they want to sue us."
Powder Mountain also hired influential lawyer and politician Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, as a lobbyist. In early October, Hillyard held a luncheon in Logan for two of the seven council members to mingle with the resort owners. Yeates was also invited, but was unable to attend.
"I was a little uneasy about the luncheon because the deadline was looming and nothing had been done except to retain counsel, who just happened to be our state senator," Yeates said.
According to the council's minutes, on Oct. 9, Cache County Attorney George Daines "cautioned Council members that this is a quasi-judicial proceeding and the Council should not meet with the proponents outside of a public meeting or without legal representation."
Conflicting meetings
Many of the planning commission meetings in Weber and Cache are at the same time on the same day, requiring the petitioners to spread out and coordinate with two different governments at once.
"Working with Weber and Cache counties at the same time can be a logistical challenge. However ... we expanded our team to make certain we are able to give all parties the appropriate time and attention," wrote Brooke Hontz, a Powder Mountain project manager, in an e-mail to the Standard-Examiner. "We look forward to continuing to work together to ensure Powder Mountain becomes the world-class asset these communities deserve."
Yeates said the resort would be a recreational asset, but he is specifically concerned about the ownership and liens, or debts, on the property. Western America Holdings owns most of the land on the Weber and Cache sides, but has millions of dollars of liens belonging to the Jack Johnson Co. in Park City. Before any development can start, all lien holders must approve the plans in writing. Other land-owning groups in Cache Valley include Sweetwater International, Powder Mountain Group Holdings, and Elkhorn, which is owned by the Cobabe family.
"It seems to me that Cache County is asking for a lot of things that you normally don't ask for until much later," Hillyard said. "We certainly don't want to bypass any rules and we want to do what's best for Cache Valley, but my clients are getting frustrated."
To help move things along, Hillyard and Daines have discussed the possibility of Powder Mountain paying for Cache County to hire an outside planning and legal consultant. Hillyard is worried, however, that if Daines continues to be active in the case, then the extra help would simply become another level of bureaucracy.
With the increasing tension surrounding the approval of the development plan, Yeates said he wants to confer with Weber officials.
"I think what we need to do is sit down with the Weber County Commission and see how they feel about it and if they really want this to go through," he said. "I think the project would add a lot to the recreation in the area, but we want to make sure."
Weber County Commissioner Jan Zogmaister stressed that the Powder Mountain rezone is only a proposal, but if the planning commission passes it up to her desk, she would appreciate working out details with Cache County.
"I've wondered at times what Cache Valley is thinking about this," she said. "It would be good to sit down and talk about it."
Still, Zogmaister said, it is not the responsibility of the commission or the Cache County Council to work out problems for the developer.
"They need to come to us with a plan," she said.
The Ogden Valley Planning Commission will vote on the Powder Mountain rezoning petition at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Weber Center, 2380 Washington Blvd.
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