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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Never say never
Ogden'
;s controversial gondola-and-resort proposal has become the civic-debate version of Whac-a-Mole.
Every time one issue related to the plan pops up and is hit or missed, you can always count on another one to pop up somewhere else. Ogden has been debating gondolas for decades, and there's no reason to believe it won't still be debating them decades into the future.
The controversial proposal by Sandy developer Chris Peterson to build a four-season, roadless resort above Ogden in Malan's Basin, was, most people would have assumed, dealt a crippling blow on Tuesday. That's when the Weber State University Board of Trustees affirmed its intent to use the developable portion of 120 acres of WSU-owned land east of the school for expansion of classroom and research facilities.
In other words, the trustees said, we don't foresee selling off the land to Peterson or anyone else. As board Vice Chairman Barney Chapman told our reporter Scott Schwebke, the trustees would happily review any proposal Peterson makes, but would be unlikely to sell the property: "Our intent is to keep the property. We want to make sure that we do what's best for the students and the university." That is, after all, the university's primary mission.
Peterson, in an e-mail to the Standard-Examiner, wrote that he's not dismayed. His planning continues to move forward, despite the trustees' decision.
Peterson's controversial plan, as presented to the public and this newspaper's editorial board last year, involves the following:
l Building a four-season, roadless resort east of Ogden in Malan's Basin.
l Connect the resort to Ogden via a gondola running up and down the mountain side.
l Peterson would purchase the Mount Ogden Golf Course and 60 adjoining acres from the city, reconfigure it and build luxury homes along the fairways.
l Peterson also intended to purchase the 120 acres of Weber State land, and build more homes and apartments suitable for college students there to finance construction of his resort.
l Ogden would use the profits from the sale of the golf course and land to build an urban gondola between the Intermodal Transportation Hub at 24th and Wall and the vicinity of Weber State/Mount Ogden Golf Course.
Peterson last year told the Standard-Examiner's editorial board if he couldn't purchase the 120 acres of university-owned land and build houses there, the economics of his project wouldn't work. It remains to be seen whether that still holds true.
Since no formal proposal has ever been presented by Peterson to Weber State for the purchase of the 120 acres, or any portion of it, the trustees deserve praise for going ahead on their own in the interest of community spirit and studying whether or not the land would be developable or necessary for the university's future expansion. Their determination is that it's in the school's best interest to hang onto the land. We respect that decision.
Now Ogden and WSU await further word from Peterson. Will he make a proposal? If so, does he still want to purchase some of the university's land? Or has his plan changed so that the land is no longer necessary?
Like we said, with Ogden and the gondola, it's always something new.
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