NORTH OGDEN — His neighbors are great and there’s a strong sense of community, says Brian Bates, who moved into the expansive Village at Prominence Point development in North Ogden a little over a year ago.

But other aspects of the new development, which is still taking shape, aren’t so great.

The promised amenities — swimming pools and clubhouses, a pickleball court, a playground and more — have yet to materialize, even as more and more town homes and patio homes take shape. With a couple kids, such facilities were a particular lure for Bates and his wife.

What’s more, the weeds in some of the vacant sections of the development are at times out of control and it can be hard to get concrete, reliable information.

“We love the community and the people who live here,” said Bates. “It’s just dealing with and trying to figure out what’s going on. Everyone’s been told a different story.”

Sandy Cochran, who moved into a town home in the spring of 2020, is particularly irked that the playground and other recreational amenities still haven’t been developed. She bought her home at the development in part because of those features, which would give her visiting grandkids something to do.

“There’s nothing else for them to do if they aren’t built,” she said. The date to complete the amenities, she went on, keeps changing, keeps getting pushed further and further out.

Village at Prominence Point, which could house 1,200 or more people when fully developed, was the focus of extensive debate as North Ogden officials weighed the plans. Some worried the development, to be spread over 33 acres, would disrupt life for those living in the adjacent neighborhoods of single-family homes. Officials ultimately signed off on the massive development in October 2017 and construction began in earnest in the first half of 2019.

The development sits in what was once an undeveloped parcel off the west side of Washington Boulevard, north of 1700 North. Original plans call for some 600-plus housing units, a mix of town homes, patio homes and apartments, which still haven’t been built.

Now, two years after the homes started taking form, people like Bates, Cochran and other residents have concerns of their owns. Some feel short-changed. To be sure, the town homes and patio homes are fine. No one reports major construction issues and the structures appear to be neat, clean, modern and well-maintained. It’s just some of the other aspects of life in the development that rub them wrong.

City leaders are well aware of the issues, gripes and complaints.

“I would say I probably get more concerns about that development than about anything else in the city,” said Mayor S. Neal Berube. He’s not sure if it was a matter of miscommunication or misunderstanding, but some of the residents, “feel the sales pitch they were given was inaccurate.”

City officials have pressed Village at Prominence Point managers to trim back the overgrown weeds in the still-vacant portions of the development, a violation of city codes. Crews were at work on Friday, cutting the vegetation, according to a resident. Beyond that, though, there’s not much the city can do as long as the structures and infrastructure comply with the development agreement hammered out with the city.

“On the private issues, I have advised them to speak with the developer and if they are unable to reach a resolution they would need to look at their next steps,” said North Ogden City Attorney Jon Call, who’s also fielded complaints from Village at Prominence Point residents.

The city can only address issues that don’t comply with the development agreement. And that document states that the first clubhouse at Village at Prominence Point doesn’t need to be built until the first apartments, yet to take form, are constructed.

Whatever the case, Berube sounded a message of urgency on the issue of the still-to-be-developed amenities. “It’s time for him to get that clubhouse built,” he said.

Jack Barrett, a principal in Meritage Companies, the motor behind the Village Prominence Point development, couldn’t be reached for comment. He was the main representative the city officials worked with in working out details of the development plan.

Lori Lee, one of the real estate agents helping sell the town homes and patio homes at Village at Prominence Point, understands the grumbling about the lacking amenities. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult to carry out some construction projects, she said. Beyond that, with town home and patio home construction still underway, it’s not the best time to build swimming pools, what with all the potential blowing dust.

“Things are happening,” she said. “It will happen.”

INTERNET, OTHER CONCERNS

The lack of recreational offerings and weeds aren’t the only issues Village at Prominence Point residents bring up.

Residents don’t have their pick of internet options — they’re pretty much obliged to use the services of a provider connected to Jack Barrett’s wife if they want an in-home connection  — which has become another point of contention. Lee says she, as a real estate agent, has nothing to with internet issues. Likewise, Call said that’s not an issue that falls under the jurisdiction of the city.

The cost for internet service, from a company called SonicNet, amounts to a little over $120 a month, according to residents. Residents can get SonicNet “and that’s it, at one price,” with no variety of plan offerings, Cochran said.

Bates tried to get CenturyLink service, but was told the company can’t operate inside Village at Prominence Point. One of the registered principles for SonicNet is Dawn Barrett, according to online business records maintained by the Utah Department of Commerce. The company’s listed address is the Scottsdale, Arizona, address Jack Barrett lists in a federal bankruptcy filing last year and Dawn Barrett is identified in that filing as his spouse.

Looking to the future, another point of concern is a vacant plot of land, overgrown with weeds at least as of last week, that’s surrounded by patio homes and town homes. It abuts Cochran’s town home and she worries about critters that may be living in the overgrowth.

Perhaps more significantly, word is that a four-story apartment complex for people aged 55 and up is to be built in the space, according to Berube, and that has some worried about potential traffic congestion brought by new tenants. Initial plans submitted to the city of North Ogden showed the space was to hold as many as 68 housing units.

One resident complains that developers are putting the focus on getting as many residents in Village at Prominence Point as possible, with minimal regard to addressing their concerns after they move in. He asked not to be named because he’s moving out and doesn’t want to scare off would-be buyers of his home.

Indeed, many seem to share the varied concerns, which pop up in posts on a Facebook page residents created. “Everyone’s upset about all of this,” Cochran said.

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