Ogden Valley voters spar on incorporation ballot question as Election Day looms

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EDEN, Weber County — The debate over the proposal to turn a large swath of the Ogden Valley in Weber County into a city is coming to a head, with the potential pace of future development in the picturesque zone at stake.

A contingent of incorporation boosters have been pushing hard, touting the proposed incorporation — a question on Ogden Valley voters' ballots this cycle — as a way of assuring local control as growth pressure mounts. Making a city of the expanse that encompasses the Eden, Liberty and Wolf Creek areas and surrounds much of Pineview Reservoir would give residents "the ability to define our own path forward," said Nick Dahlkamp, one of the incorporation proponents.

As is, the unincorporated area is governed by the three elected members of the Weber County Commission, which has jurisdiction over all unincorporated portions of the county. The town of Huntsville is not included in the proposed city, but would abut it.

A fierce group of opponents, however, has emerged, cautioning that incorporation could result in increased taxes — a sharp point of disagreement — and actually pave the way to denser housing development. "We all want the same thing, which is to stay rural. I just don't think this is the right way to do it," said Shane Dunleavy.

Along the way, incorporation boosters have raised more than $63,000 to get their message out via two political issues committees and spent more than $41,000 of the funds, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the state. The foes have spent around $8,600 via their own political issues committee with $3,500 spent since the last reporting period, according to Laura Warburton, who's pushing for a no vote. At the same time, competing political signs promoting and blasting incorporation have sprouted along the roadways of the zone, a growing draw to outsiders and home to three ski resorts.

Voting culminates Tuesday and Ballot Proposition 15, as it's called, asks Ogden Valley voters three questions. First, should the area incorporate? Next, if it does incorporate, what sort of municipal government form should be implemented? The ballot offers four options. Finally, the ballot asks, if the incorporation proposal passes, should city council members be elected by district?

Incorporation boosters have been pursuing the cause since late 2022 and successfully petitioned the state last year to get a study completed looking into the question of incorporating. The study that resulted maintains that incorporation is financially feasible and the boosters successfully carried out another petition drive this year to get the issue on the ballot.

Dahlkamp senses strong support for incorporation. Some in the Ogden Valley worry that county commissioners don't fully reflect their wishes, and by creating a new city, they argue, they'll have more control over development via a locally elected city council and, depending on the government form, a mayor.

Significantly, the study commissioned by the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office found that anticipated revenue entering the coffers of the proposed city would be sufficient to cover anticipated expenses, create a surplus even. In fact, Dahlkamp said other Utah communities that have incorporated have actually operated "leaner" than what was outlined in the feasibility studies that preceded their transitions into cities.

Foes like Warburton, though, are skeptical on the tax question and think becoming a city would result in higher property taxes to cover municipal operations. Though the Ogden Valley feasibility study was carried out following guidelines set by the state, she maintains that certain "assumptions" underlie the study's predictions that potentially bear on their accuracy. "I think the study in several ways did not use actual, factual data," she said.

Dunleavy is open to incorporating a smaller area, like the zone clustered around Eden and Wolf Creek, where housing development is currently concentrated. He's a developer, in addition to living in the Ogden Valley, and has partnered in developing the Wolf Creek area. But he worries about incorporating such a large expanse, as proposed — some 63.3 square miles. "I just think there's going to be immense pressure to grow and I think it becomes a lot easier if you're a city," he said.

He addressed the issue in a Facebook post, noting the deep-pocketed investors involved in the development of the Powder Mountain ski resort to the north and the Wasatch Peaks development to the south in Morgan County. With incorporation, he wrote, "the skids will be greased and the real big bad wolf developers will be off to the races to get the valley built up in time for the 2034 Olympics."

The sides have also sparred over the impact of pressure from the state on locales to help tackle Utah's housing crunch. Incorporation foes say becoming a city could augment the authority the state has in the Ogden Valley on housing and zoning questions. Proponents, though, say unincorporated areas would also face pressure from the state.

A contingent in the Spring Lake community in Utah County is also pushing for incorporation and voters there will also weigh in on an incorporation proposal. The community is much smaller and the proposal hasn't sparked as much controversy as the Ogden Valley plans.

Related topics

Utah growth and populationUtah electionsUtahPoliticsWeber County

Tim Vandenack

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Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL.com. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.