Nordic Valley ski village plans spark concerns, questions
-
- Scott Perkes, a planner in the Weber County Planning Division, addresses the Ogden Valley Planning Commission on the proposed creation of a ski village around the Nordic Valley resort on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The sign reading “Way too big” reflects concerns among many Ogden Valley residents that the number of proposed housing units, 763, is excessive. The meeting was held at the Weber Center in Ogden.
-
- Charlie Ewert, principal planner in the Weber County Planning Division, addresses the Ogden Valley Planning Commission on the proposed creation of a ski village around the Nordic Valley resort on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The meeting was held at the Weber Center in Ogden and many expressed concern and opposition to the plans.
-
- The Ogden Valley Planning Commission oversees a meeting Tuesday, March 22, 2022, that was focused on the proposed creation of a ski village around the Nordic Valley ski resort. The commission members, from left, are John Howell, Jeffry Burton, Trevor Shuman, Justin Torman, Shanna Francis and Jared Montgomery. The meeting was held at the Weber Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — Ogden Valley residents have plenty of reservations about the proposed creation of a village around the Nordic Valley ski resort.
The number of proposed housing units, up to 763, is a particular concern.
“We need to have sustainable development, not uncontrolled increase in density,” said Jan Fullmer, one of many to address the Ogden Valley Planning Commission at a public hearing Tuesday night. “This has got to be reconsidered.”
Likewise, Robi Kunz, another speaker, said the potential number of housing units creates a much denser development relative to skiable acres at Nordic Valley than at other regional ski resorts in Utah and Wyoming. He wonders if the project proposal is motivated “by need or greed” and questioned whether Nordic Valley is the place for what he dubbed a Park City-style resort development.
Skyline Mountain Base, owner of the land where Nordic Valley sits, is proposing creation of the ski village spread out around the base of the ski resort, mainly to the east and south. Developers envision condominiums, hotel rooms, chalets and other living units as well as commercial development, to be built over 10 years or more.
The plans have sparked concern among Ogden Valley residents, though, and Tuesday’s hearing was the critics’ first opportunity to publicly speak out on the matter to Weber County officials. Skyline Mountain Base needs a pair of zoning changes to pursue the project and the meeting focused on one of them, a measure letting it concentrate housing development in the proposed ski village area.
The planning commission, an advisory body to Weber County commissioners, heard the feedback but took no action. The officials will hold a work session April 5 on the proposed zoning changes and then hold a public hearing on the second issue — the proposed rezone of Skyline’s project area — on April 26, when they may make a recommendation on the zoning requests.
Scott Perkes, a planner in the Weber County Planning Division, said Skyline isn’t proposing more housing than already contemplated in the county’s general plan, which outlines development. Rather, the developer wants to focus it in the ski village area, leaving much of the rest of its 510-acre development site green, also contemplated in the general plan.
Eric Langvardt of Langvardt Design Group, a Salt Lake City-based planning and architectural firm working with Skyline Mountain Base, also emphasized that point. He also noted that many of the housing units would be compact condominiums inside larger apartment-style structures, not sprawling 8,000-square-foot lodges.
Whatever the case, the plans have struck a sore spot for many.
One attendee’s sign read “Way too big,” underscoring concern with the proposed number of housing units, and many asked officials to slow down to give the public more time to digest the plans. Another man expressed concern that the bulk of the proposed units would be used as short-term rentals, bolstering the transient population visiting the Ogden Valley.
Housing and the specter of a new village weren’t the only points of concern, though.
Some questioned whether the Ogden Valley has enough water to serve such a large development. A drought lingers on in much of Utah while restrictive guidelines on secondary-water use are in effect in Weber County for the spring and summer.
If the project is to go forward, Ron Gleason asked officials to limit the height of structures in the development to 50 feet, less than the 55 feet proposed.
In response to concerns about water availability, Charlie Ewert, principal planner in the Weber County Planning Division, said county officials wouldn’t permit any construction, regardless of any zoning change, unless the pertinent water authorities signed off on the plans. Just because land gets rezoned doesn’t automatically mean development will occur, he said.
Similarly, Perkes said the developer would be required to install the needed infrastructure, like roads, sewer lines and water lines, before adding housing. The specific number of units proposed, 763, also remains subject to review by county planners.