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OGDEN — Another large development proposal in the Ogden Valley is generating sparks from some worried about growth in the more pristine sections of the zone.

Wolf Creek Resort operators are pushing a proposal to add 437 housing units to the area up the mountain north of Eden, below the Powder Mountain ski resort. Two of three proposed housing clusters would sit near the heart of the Wolf Creek area, but a third — called Cobabe Ranch and the focus of most controversy — would sit in an area that’s been relatively untouched.

“Our goal is to raise awareness. It’s a valley-wide issue,” said Ken Miller, who lives in the area and is one of the concerned residents who’s spoken against the plans. “If they can expand Wolf Creek here, what’s to stop them from expanding Wolf Creek further?”

The Ogden Valley Planning Commission took up a rezone request related to the plans on Tuesday, ultimately tabling action after a vote on the matter tied 3-3, thus failing. A seventh member of the commission recused herself from the vote.

Development can be a thorny issue in the Ogden Valley, and the tied vote drew a temporary sigh of relief from Miller and others opposed to Cobabe Ranch. Many of them spoke out Tuesday.

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Planning officials, though, plan to hold a work session to sort through some of their lingering questions. John Lewis, the owner of Wolf Creek Resort, said the Ogden Valley General Plan, which guides growth in the area, allows for the transfer of density rights as he’s proposing.

Transferring density rights — a key element of the Wolf Creek Resort proposal — is the practice of shifting the right to build housing on one parcel to another, thus focusing development in certain areas and keeping other sectors free of development.

“If we’re going to preserve open space somewhere else, the general plan asks us to cluster the density in the village and resort areas, which Wolf Creek has been for for decades,” Lewis said. “Unfortunately NIMBY-ism has been the reaction to this new growth. We are simply growing like we have many other times over the decades.”

Even if the Wolf Creek Resort plans hit a bump, another development proposal that’s spurred plenty of debate and discussion in the Ogden Valley edged ahead on Tuesday. The planning commission voted 5-2 to recommend approval of a rezone of 510 acres, as sought by Skyline Mountain Base for the firm’s plans to develop a ski village around the base of the Nordic Valley ski resort.

Now the rezone proposal goes to Weber County Commissioners for final consideration. Commissioners last week approved code changes that Skyline Mountain Base needed for its plans, and the rezone is the second and final legislative step in the process.

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Skyline owns Nordic Valley and its plans have been a hot point of debate since the proposal was publicly unveiled last year. Some worry the presence of a bustling ski village, as Skyline proposes, would detract from the relative peace and quiet of the zone for year-round residents. In response, the developer has scaled back to number of proposed housing units to around 500, down from 700 or more, and made other changes to ease the jitters.

Though Lewis maintains that the general plan allows for the transfer of density rights, foes like Miller aren’t so sure. Cobabe Ranch sits south of Trapper’s Ridge, another housing cluster.

Miller argues that the general plan calls for preservation of “view sheds” — essentially scenic areas — and open fields. Allowing development in the grassy, largely vacant Cobabe Ranch area at a higher density than currently contemplated in planning documents would run counter to that. Notably, the project would result in noisy construction for eight or more years as the work gradually proceeds, he maintains, and mar the view looking south for residents.

“What the general plan wants to do is conserve these view sheds and open spaces,” Miller said. As zoning law is now written, Lewis could develop perhaps 16 homes on the 82-acre Cobabe Ranch property, one house per five acres. The Wolf Creek Resort plans, however, call for 101 housing units, including 33 single-family homes and 68 town homes spread across 17 four-plexes.

The other, less-contested elements of the Wolf Creek plans call for 144 housing units in The Exchange area and 192 in the Eagle Crest area.

Among the concerns of Ogden Valley Planning Commission members that led to the 3-3 vote were the desire among some for fewer or no single-family homes in the Cobabe Ranch area. How exactly a proposed road will connect to the area is another question mark, said Steven Burton, a Weber County planner.

Even so, the controversy over the Wolk Creek Resort plans doesn’t seem out-of-the-ordinary in the area to Burton, where long-time residents keep a close eye on development trends. “I have seen a typical public response on this one,” Burton said.

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