Balloon fest booth permit pulled; Powder Mountain Town opponents' group deflated

POWDER MOUNTAIN -- Members of a group opposed to the incorporation of Powder Mountain as a town are feeling deflated because they won't be allowed to have a booth at this weekend's Ogden Valley Balloon & Artist Festival.
The Citizens' Rights Committee was initially promised about two weeks ago by organizers of the festival, running Friday through Sunday at Wolf Creek Resort in Eden, that it could set up an informational booth at the event, said committee member Larry Zini.
However, on Tuesday, permission for the booth was withdrawn, said Zini, who is concerned officials with Powder Mountain resort, one of the festival's sponsors, may have used their influence to get the Citizens' Rights Committee booted.
"Something clearly changed," he said Wednesday.
"They (festival organizers) were very receptive to our idea of having a booth there. There was no hostility that there was any problem. So all that has happened has come as a complete shock."
Carolyn Daniels, who handles group sales and public relations for Powder Mountain, said she contacted organizers for the Ogden Valley Balloon & Artist Festival to express concern that those at the Powder Mountain booth would be spending their time defending issues raised by those at the Citizens' Rights Committee booth.
"We wanted to be there to promote the upcoming ski season," she said, explaining the purpose of the Powder Mountain booth.
Daniels said she specifically told festival organizers that she was not asking for the Citizens' Right Committee to be banned from the event.
Gladys Mundelius, booth coordinator for the festival, said event officials rescinded the Citizens' Rights Committee's permit because it is neither an arts nor a registered nonprofit organization.
Organizers also wanted to ensure that political organizations like the Citizens' Rights Committee don't interfere with the fun of festivalgoers, Mundelius said.
The Citizens' Rights Committee and Powder Mountain had booths at Huntsville's Fourth of July celebration and were able to peacefully coexist, said Citizen's Rights committee member Darla Van Zeben.
It's disappointing that the Citizen's Rights Committee won't be permitted to participate in the Ogden Valley Balloon & Artist Festival, Van Zeben said.
"It would have been a great opportunity to get our message out to a larger audience."
Some Ogden Valley residents have been battling, for more than two years, efforts by Powder Mountain to establish a mega-resort and incorporate as a town.
Powder Mountain covers about 11,500 acres in Weber and Cache counties.
Powder Mountain filed a petition to incorporate as a town in Weber County in January 2008 to avoid the Ogden Valley Planning Commission's density restrictions. Under a 2007 Utah law, any group that owns a majority of land and property value in an area with more than 100 people can draw boundaries and form a municipality.
The law does not allow future residents to vote or decide if they want to be included in the developers' plans. Powder Mountain owners filed for incorporation in January 2007.
In August 2008, developers submitted a list of six candidates to the commissioners for appointment. After the county commission refused to appoint the town council from that list, the developers sued the commissioners to force the appointment.
Several residents also sued the commissioners, saying the 2007 law did not apply to the appointment of town government and an election should be held.
Second District Court Judge Ernie Jones ruled that when the Legislature changed the incorporation rules in 2008, it specified any petition for incorporation filed before March 5, 2008, was subject to the 2007 legislation.
While Jones said the commission does have some authority to create the list of candidates, he also said the list must be approved by the developers. Opponents of Powder Mountain's incorporation say they plan to appeal Jones' ruling to the Utah Supreme Court.
Opponents of the incorporation are concerned that their rights are being violated.
"It can't be stressed enough that the citizens' fight is about basic rights," Van Zeben said in a Wednesday e-mail to the Standard-Examiner.
"The right to vote, the right to equal protection for all citizens, and the right to freedom of speech. Everything else is peripheral, though protection of the character of the Ogden Valley is important to all of us."