Ogden business park expansion plans sparking concern in Marriott-Slaterville
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- Kerry Wayne, left, and Shelle Kautzman standoutside their homes along 1200 West in Marriott-Slaterville on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. They live on the west side of the street and the Business Depot Ogden is building seven new warehouses on its property across 1200 West, behind Wayne and Kautzman, which has some residents worried.
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- Business Depot Ogden plans to build seven new warehouses in the area outlined in red on its property in Ogden. Neighbors to the west across 1200 West, which is in Marriott-Slaterville, are worried about noise and more from the new development.
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- A worker drives a piece of heavy equipment on a section of Business Depot Ogden property on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, where seven new warehouses are to be built. The plans have some neighbors in Marriott-Slaterville across 1200 West to the west worried.
TIM VANDENACK, Standard-Examiner
Kerry Wayne, left, and Shelle Kautzman standoutside their homes along 1200 West in Marriott-Slaterville on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. They live on the west side of the street and the Business Depot Ogden is building seven new warehouses on its property across 1200 West, behind Wayne and Kautzman, which has some residents worried.
MARRIOTT-SLATERVILLE — Growth, development and change — and the unease and grumbling that can sometimes accompany it — are nothing new in Weber County.
The population here has been growing, resulting in periodic friction between homeowners, developers and local leaders charged with overseeing the development process.
But planned growth inside Business Depot Ogden, located inside the city of Ogden, is creating another sort of controversy — complaints from residents of one city, Marriott-Slaterville, directed at another locale, Ogden. The planned BDO development, seven new warehouses, is occurring in an undeveloped part of the business park that bumps directly up against Marriott-Slaterville, where about 20 homes sit.
“We’ve always had an issue with light and noise,” said Kerry Wayne, one of the Marriott-Slaterville residents whose homes bump up against the BDO where the expansion is taking place.
Now, he laments, the industrial park will potentially intrude that much more. “It’s going to be in my front yard whereas before it was back a little bit,” Wayne said.
Image supplied, City of Ogden
Business Depot Ogden plans to build seven new warehouses in the area outlined in red on its property in Ogden. Neighbors to the west across 1200 West, which is in Marriott-Slaterville, are worried about noise and more from the new development.
Beyond that, he worries he has little recourse to lobby Ogden and Business Depot Ogden reps, being a resident of Marriott-Slaterville. The warehouses will be going in on a 42.4-acre piece of BDO land extending along the east side of 1200 West from 400 North south past West 2nd Street.
Shelle Kautzman, Wayne’s next-door neighbor and a 40-year resident of the area, remembers, with fondness, what things were like when she first moved in. The BDO used to be a military depot. “I woke up listening to soldiers doing cadence along the fence line and it was beautiful. Now I’m going to wake up to trucks. Not so beautiful,” she said.
To be sure, BDO officials are mindful of the Marriott-Slaterville residents living on the west side of 1200 West, across from the industrial park. They’ve been in contact with Marriott-Slaterville officials over the last six months on the issue.
“We’re trying to be the best neighbors we possibly can,” said Aaron Austad, the BDO director of operations. A 3- to 6-foot high berm will be placed along the BDO property line on the east side of 1200 West, also the boundary between Ogden and Marriott-Slaterville, and that will be topped with trees and “very heavy landscaping” to serve as a buffer.
Likewise, Mark Johnson, chief administrative officer for the city of Ogden, said BDO reps have the interests of the neighboring residents in mind. “They absolutely intend to be a good neighbor,” said Johnson, though he hasn’t been directly involved in the back-and-forth.
TIM VANDENACK, Standard-Examiner
A worker drives a piece of heavy equipment on a section of Business Depot Ogden property on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, where seven new warehouses are to be built. The plans have some neighbors in Marriott-Slaterville across 1200 West to the west worried.
At any rate, Marriott-Slaterville reps seem to have their doubts. They want to make sure they’re not overlooked, anyway. The Ogden Planning Commission last week approved the divvying of land for the seven planned warehouses, according to Wayne, and now Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell must sign off on the plans.
Marriott-Slaterville Mayor Scott Van Leeuwen sent a letter to Ogden Planning Commission officials on behalf of the residents living by the BDO with several requests. Marriott-Slaterville has “dark sky” lighting requirements meant to minimize light pollution and, accordingly, he asked that the BDO use of fixtures that prevent light from emanating into the residential area. He asked that truck docking areas be placed on the east side of the new warehouses, in addition to other noise-reducing measures.
“Please be considerate of residents and noises at the planning stage so that noises generated from (these) new buildings can be eliminated or mitigated now,” Van Leeuwen wrote.
Bill Morris, the Marriott-Slaterville city attorney, said he’s not heard back from Ogden officials on the mayor’s letter. He also acknowledged that the BDO is within its rights to expand, as planned. Crews and heavy equipment are already out in the expansion area, moving dirt.
Still, he noted that homeowners bumping up against the BDO in other areas suffer some of the ill-effects of living next to an industrial park — notably, lighting from the complex that shines into their homes.
And Wayne, who clashed with Ogden officials in 2017 over a proposal, which ultimately fizzled, to bring a train-making plant to the business park, seems to be skeptical. “I haven’t had a great deal of success getting the city of Ogden to hear me on anything,” he said.
Kautzman, for her part, chiefly worries about the loss of the rural feel of the area, where deer sometimes roam and where the dark skies can be a sight to behold.
“That’s not the price of progress,” she said, lamenting the appearance of more warehouses, which she worries will obstruct the view from her home. “Our view of the mountains will disappear. The noise will increase 100-fold.”