1 / 2

Homes and condos in Ogden Valley are seen on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. Weber County leaders are taking a closer look at short-term rentals in the area stemming from complaints from some.

BEN DORGER, Standard-Examiner file photo

2 / 2

The Ogden Valley with the Wolf Creek Resort area visible off in the distance, north of Eden, photographed Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. A development plan in the area has sparked controversy.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

❮ ❯

OGDEN — As the Ogden Valley increasingly draws visitors to short-term rentals, Weber County officials are close to hiring a contractor tasked with making sure they comply with noise, parking and other ordinances.

The aim is to more effectively deal with the disruptions permanent Ogden Valley residents face from weekend and other short-term visitors, drawn by ski resorts, Pineview Reservoir and other natural attributes of the zone. It’s been a thorny focus of ongoing debate at least since 2020 and some remain skeptical despite the looming potential action.

Short-term visitors have a place in the local economy, but it “shouldn’t come at the cost of the existing neighbors,” said Bill Cobabe, a planner in the Weber County Planning Division. “It shouldn’t come at the cost of the people who live up there full time.”

Weber County commissioners and planning officials launched debate in 2020 into how to better oversee Ogden Valley short-term rentals, or STRs, given the disruption many say the properties can have to adjacent neighbors. Now, commissioners are close to hiring a contractor tasked with addressing complaints lodged against STRs and beefing up the parking and noise rules that apply in the zone, per a recommendation from the Ogden Valley Planning Commission, an advisory body.

County commissioners will discuss the matter at a work session next Monday while county planning staff will host an open house later that day from 6-7 p.m. at the Ogden Valley Branch library in Huntsville to give the public more information on the plans. A public hearing and formal consideration of the changes by commissioners could come as soon as Dec. 20.

Many permanent Ogden Valley residents complain that some visitors renting homes in the zone for weekend and short-term visits can be an annoyance — holding loud, disruptive parties and crowding roadways with parked cars. Notably, they also worry about growth in the number of STRs in their midst, compounding the problems.

Despite the specter of county action, though, Jan Fullmer, an Ogden Valley resident who has helped spearhead the push to crack down on STRs, remains skeptical. She said Thursday that she hadn’t been able to track down the text of proposed changes to Weber County ordinances on the matter. With action possible as soon as Dec. 20, she also criticized the pace of action.

“They’re pushing this through really quickly,” she said.

Under the proposal the county is weighing, the number of STRs wouldn’t expand, a big point for permanent residents like Fullmer who worry about the proliferation of the properties.

“The (Ogden Valley) Planning Commission’s recommendation was to not expand the boundaries that currently exist in the Ogden Valley regarding short-term rentals but to place regulations that would reduce the secondary effects that can occur with short-term rentals,” reads a press release from the county. “This is the only possibility the County Commission is considering at this time.”

Nevertheless, Fullmer sees the possibility for expansion of STRs in several proposed property rezones currently up for consideration in the Ogden Valley by Weber County officials. She isn’t so sure the number of STRs will hold steady.

She points to the examples of other U.S. communities where she says short-term rentals have been allowed to proliferate, spiking housing costs and forcing out lower-paid essential workers. A study last June by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah noted that sort of trend.

“Academic research indicates a relationship with increasing STR supply leading to a decrease in affordability and housing options as supply is occupied by visitors rather than full-time residents,” the study reads. It went on, saying the number of STRs in Utah “steadily increased over the last half of the 2010s as AirBnB, Booking.com and VRBO platforms became popular.”

As is, the Ogden Valley is home to 700-plus STRs, according to Cobabe. Fullmer said an inventory conducted by residents, though, puts the number at around 1,100, more than 25% of the 4,100 total dwellings in the area.

“It’s so discouraging. We’re losing our community,”Fullmer said.

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, by contrast, put the number of STRs in all of Weber County, not just the Ogden Valley, at 819. The group’s study said there were 345 STRs as of 2021 in the Wolf Creek area of the Ogden Valley, located north of Eden, or 23.1% of all housing units in the area. That 23.1% concentration was ninth highest among the Utah communities studied.

As for the ordinance changes in the works, Cobabe said one would limit the number of vehicles at most individual homes in the Ogden Valley to 10 in a bid to prevent crowding. Parking spaces would also have to be delineated.

What’s more, the maximum allowable noise level would be 55 decibels, measured from the property line.

Currently, county employees respond to complaints about STRs, but they are unable to keep up with all the reports they get in a timely fashion, officials say. Hiring a contractor to handle complaints instead would bolster enforcement, officials hope.