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The Exchange Building, near the old stockyards in West Ogden, sits vacant and forlorn. (Cathy McKitrick/Standard-Examiner)

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The Exchange Building, near the old stockyards in West Ogden, sits vacant and forlorn. (Cathy McKitrick/Standard-Examiner)

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Kim Patterson, 62, has lived on Exchange Road in West Ogden for almost three decades and laments the changes he's seen in the community. (Cathy McKitrick/Standard-Examiner)

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Kim Patterson, 62, has lived on Exchange Road in West Ogden for almost three decades and laments the changes he's seen in the community. (Cathy McKitrick/Standard-Examiner)

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OGDEN — Decades ago, West Ogden bustled with stockyard commerce that fed the area’s economy — and residents enjoyed a semi-rural lifestyle.

But now the community west of the railroad tracks feels mostly forgotten.

“Over the last 30 years this place has really changed, none of it for the better,” Kim Patterson said of his snug neighborhood near B Avenue and Exchange Road.

Patterson moved 29 years ago to a house across from the once handsome Exchange Building that housed business offices for Ogden’s Union stockyards. That architecturally striking structure now sits vacant, windows broken out.

Patterson and his wife raised “three kids, four dogs, 32 cats, a turkey, chickens, rabbits, horses, cows and sheep” in their West Ogden home, he said.

He used to enjoy a view of the Wasatch mountains from his driveway, but now Patterson mostly sees the backside of a storage building instead.

In times past, an occasional car would drift down Exchange Road, Patterson said, but now semis, dump trucks and tankers pound the narrow stretch of pavement.

Vehicles rarely respect the 25 mph speed limit, he said, adding that police officers stopped patrolling the area years ago.

“You’re not supposed to hear tire- and turbo-whine at that speed,” Patterson said of the background noise that fills his day.

Kitty-corner to his property, Bloom Recycling conducts business with plans to expand. And to the west, Weber County’s Transfer Station receives and processes solid waste, shipping loads to Tooele County.

Stray shopping carts accumulate along the road in front of his house — from aluminum collectors coming to cash in cans.

“Last year I took 36 carts back to Walmart,” Patterson said.

Poised for change?

Meanwhile, Ogden planners have worked for more than 18 months updating West Ogden’s Community Plan to guide future growth.

Patterson is just one of several residents who harbor hopes for the area bounded by Union Pacific tracks to the east, Interstate 15 to the west, 23rd Street on the north and 30th Street to the south.

Resident comments, gathered over several months, helped Ogden City planners hone a vision for West Ogden’s future:

Community identity

1) Brand toward a “green lifestyle” — a rural-urban area that allows for farm-type animals and community gardens

2) Improve perception through land use consistency — the area’s mix of inharmonious land uses — residential, manufacturing and industrial — has caused conflicts that need to be addressed

3) Promote community unity — when West Ogden’s elementary school closed, no single element knit the area together. A community center could help rebuild those bonds.

4) Landscape maintenance — West Ogden lacks access to secondary water, making landscape difficult to maintain. Drought-tolerant plants are recommended.

5) Preserve historic sites and structures — West Ogden has several significant early structures that need to be identified and nominated to local and/or national historic registers.

Land use

1) Increase and improve residential development design — West Ogden has seen little population growth and rental occupancy in the area has risen. The plan suggests down-payment assistance and development of a mixed-use neighborhood center at 24th Street and B Avenue.

2) Increase and properly locate commercial uses — a full 24th Street interchange is anticipated for Interstate 15, which could fuel adjacent commercial development.

3) Reduce amount and intensity of manufacturing/industrial zoning — while some residents support this concept, established businesses such as Cargill Flour Mill and Bloom Recycling hope to expand and are pushing back against proposed rezones.

4) Expand and protect open space — areas along the Weber River, now zoned for manufacturing, are recommended for rezone as open space.

5) Improve park maintenance and restroom access — the Ogden City Dog Park near Fort Buenaventura has troublesome puncture weeds, and nearby restrooms are often locked due to vandalism.

6) Expand and enhance trails and trailheads — the capped landfill and Weber River provide significant open space and trails. The plan includes improvements and additional trailheads.

7) Development and preservation of open space — the plan focuses on future use of the old Weber County landfill. For starters, it suggests renaming the area to Observatory Park or River Park.

Transportation

1) Accommodate full 24th Street interchange — Ogden City will need to work with state and federal agencies to make this happen, but if it does, West Ogden will become a major entryway into Ogden.

2) Provide better commercial and industrial truck traffic management — West Ogden attracts high truck traffic due to its manufacturing facilities. The plan calls for redesigning Exchange Road, a traffic signal at 24th Street and B Avenue, and development of a frontage road for truck use.

3) Pedestrian crossings on 24th Street — the plan recommends several pedestrian crossings to increase walkability.

4) Accommodate alternative modes of transportation — walkers, bicyclists, people in wheelchairs and parents pushing strollers all struggle to cross the 24th Street viaduct into Ogden’s downtown. More bike lanes and ADA-accessible pedestrian paths are recommended.

5) Abutter’s alleys — the plan calls for the city to work with property owners to vacate these strips.

6) Public right-of-way improvements — West Ogden needs better lighting, more effective stormwater management, sidewalk upgrades, mid-block crossings and bus stop amenities along 24th Street.

7) Develop streets to access vacant areas — certain planned streets never got built, leaving residents to use unpaved roads to access their homes. The plan recommends finding ways to finish those streets.

Outdoor gun range: asset or liability?

A group of Weber County officials, area businessmen and recreational shooters are pursuing development of an outdoor gun and archery range adjacent to the landfill cap. Its placement would require rerouting part of the Kingfisher Wetlands loop that hikers and birders access from the area’s well-used Centennial Trail.

Gregg Buxton, Ogden City’s management services director and proponent of the outdoor gun range, views it as a controlled facility that could generate revenue and provide the convenience of target-shooting near an urban center.

But trails advocate Jay Hudson took offense at the notion that lowering the high point of the Kingfisher loop would have minimal impact.

In a December editorial, Hudson suggested that “Mr. Buxton walk or ride the high loop, look over the wetlands, over the shelter, the Centennial Trail, over the river and onto the mountains. The idea behind the high loop is to provide ‘real’ serenity and beauty.”

Ogden planners tweaked the language of the Community Plan to require a future gun range to “respect and work with the existing trails and not hinder future trails.” A gun range ordinance is also being drafted to stipulate more specific constraints.

City Council and Planning Commission members discussed the community plan and gun range ordinance during a work session last week.

Council members suggested restricting range hours and possibly requiring the use of lead-free shot.

“It seems like trails and wildlife are the two big issues,” council member Caitlin Gochnour said.

The Ogden Trails Network has asked that gun ranges not be allowed within a mile of active trails.

Planning Commissioner Rick Southwick questioned that recommendation.

“It’s not that it was a pristine spot,” Southwick said, noting the area’s potential uses that could help drive economic development. “In my 28 years in real estate, I’ve never had one person call me and say, ‘hey, can you help me find a house in West Ogden?'”

Feeling stuck

As for Patterson, he said he felt insulted when the city offered to buy his property for $10,000 last spring.

“They’re telling me my place is worthless,” Patterson said.

He has no problems with the gun range, Patterson added, as long as city officials consider the increased traffic it will bring.

“There are times of the day when you can’t go east on 24th Street from B Avenue, and you can’t go west because of a train blocking (B Avenue),” Patterson said. “If you’ve got an emergency, you might be stuck.”

Both the gun range ordinance and West Ogden Community Plan will come up for further consideration at future public meetings.

Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck.