Eden, UT

Welcome to Eden, Utah settled in 1859 and aptly named by hired government surveyor, Washington Jenkins, for being one of the most beautiful sites he had ever seen thus suggested the biblical Eden. Situated in Ogden Valley (including the towns of Liberty and Huntsville) it is surrounded on all sides by mountains with the sparkling Pineview Reservoir's north shores in its boundary. This small mountain community sits at an elevation of approximately 5000 feet and is surrounded with world class outdoor adventures. With only 3500 residents, it remains quaint and quiet with Ogden only 15 minutes away and Salt Lake City is less than an hour drive.

Home to some of the world's best powder skiing, Powder Mountain Resort sits 8 minutes north of "downtown" Eden. With a unique layout, skiing actually begins near the top of the resort skiing down to lifts. Powder Mountain receives an average annual snowfall of 500 inches per year (this is natural snow!) The resort doesn't make any artificial snow and offers snow cat and helicopter skiing. Cross country skiing is available in North Fork Park with more than 20 kilometers of groomed trails (also good for skate skiing). All levels of skiing are available including lessons and local mountain guides. Wolf Mountain (formerly Nordic Valley) was purchased by Wolf Creek Utah and began several improvements including snowmaking allowing for a much longer ski season. The parking lot is now paved (big news) and offers surprisingly affordable ski passes. Snowbasin resort is located in Huntsville, Utah but was host to the 2002 Olympics and is one of the most fabulous resorts in North America and is only 20 minutes from Eden.

The town has everything you need but not a bit more including a post office, coffee shop, dentist office, chiropractor, orthodontist, 2 restaurants (soon to be 3), grocery store, gym, golf course, lake, 2 banks,hotel, ski/bike shop and a gas station. Small but great with trails, wild life, rivers and lakes with amazing night skies. Eden proves to be one of those rare gems left with friendly people and beautiful surroundings.

If you have interest in Eden Utah Real Estate visit http://www.mountainluxury.com

More to come on Eden...

By MARSHALL THOMPSON
Standard-Examiner staff mthompson@standard.net


OGDEN - Weber County Commissioner Craig Dearden woke up at 3 a.m. one day last week, thinking about Powder Mountain resort's petition to incorporate as a town to pave the way for increased development.
"I wondered if anyone has ever talked to the Powder Mountain owners about a way to do this without forming a town," he said. "So I got ahold of the owners, and they said they were willing to sit down and talk with us."
After meeting with the resort developers on Monday, Dearden decided to move to table the incorporation petition at Tuesday's commission meeting so negotiations could continue. The commission voted unanimously to hold off on the incorporation request until next month.
Lisa Davis, a Powder Mountain spokeswoman, distributed a written statement about the commission's decision.
"Powder Mountain is hap- py to accommodate the county's request to discuss the resort and the incorporation petition. Over the years, we have always been willing to sit down and discuss both the development plans and now the proposed incorporation with everyone who's asked ... " the statement read.
Commissioner Jan Zogmaister said she was a little surprised by Dearden's motion, but decided it was the right call.
"I thought it was a good move," she said. "I've been troubled with the fact that the residents didn't have a voice up there."
To meet population requirements for a town, the Powder Mountain owners drew their boundaries to include about 100 Weber County residents. Under a controversial Utah law, the future residents of the Town of Powder Mountain do not get to vote on annexation or on the first town council or mayor.
Davis said she did not know if discussions with the county would include voting rights for future residents. But Dearden said he hopes a compromise can be reached in which the developers would withdraw the petition entirely.
The Ogden Valley Planning Commission spent about two years working with the Powder Mountain developers on the project. In December, the commission approved expansion plans for the resort, but did not allow for extra density because of traffic and water concerns. In January, the Powder Mountain owners filed the petition to become a town so it could design its own master plan and set its own density levels.
Jim Halay, a future resident of the proposed Powder Mountain town who opposes the incorporation, said he appreciates what Dearden is doing, but hopes it will be done responsibly.
"I just hope that they don't give away the farm with this," he said. "Because I thought the Ogden Valley Planning Commission did an upright job."
Davis said that the Powder Mountain owners have been willing to compromise in the past. They have promised to pre-pay $750,000 in development fees to get the town running, and to pay a 1 percent transaction fee on all property within the resort to a municipal fund for open space preservation, she said.
But to future Powder Mountain resident Deja Mitchell, it all comes down to voting rights.
"We want a vote on incorporation and a vote on the town council," she said.
The commission also approved a petition from Wolf Creek Resort owner Steve Roberts to opt out of the town. Landowners can remove themselves from the proposed boundaries if they own at least 1 percent of the total land value in the town and if their absence would not form an island. The removal of Roberts' land will not affect Powder Mountain's ability to incorporate.

STAY TUNED!!!

‘Powderville Six' to take on ski resort over vote

By MARSHALL THOMPSON
Standard-Examiner staff mthompson@standard.net

EDEN - As the Powder Mountain developers' petition to form a chunk of the Ogden Valley into a town moves forward, future residents are taking matters into their own hands.
A group of 40 voting-age residents met Friday to elect their own ad hoc council. Darla Van Zeben, Deja Mitchell, Jim Halay, Ryan Bushell, Layne Sheridan and Norman Belnap are the six people who will unofficially represent "Powderville," which is a nickname for the residential neighborhoods that were drawn into Powder Mountain Town without a vote.
"We agreed to work together on tactics and plans and report back to our residents," Halay said. "We elected a group to speak for us."
Under a controversial law, which the Utah Legislature amended last week, Powder Mountain owners can incorporate a town and then effectively choose the members of the first town council. According to the old law, which still applies to Powder Mountain, the Weber County Commission will appoint the mayor and town council from a list of qualified applicants submitted by the developers.
Lisa Davis, a spokeswoman for Powder Mountain, said the developers have yet to finalize their list of potential council members. She said that even though the law does not require it, the owners have talked with most of the residents to gather potential names for the positions. But Halay said he wants to vote on his representatives, and any law that does not allow him to do that is fundamentally unconstitutional. "We cannot allow a corporation to come in and take away our rights," he said. The Powderville Six will first attempt to work out a compromise with the Powder Mountain owners that would allow residents to vote, Halay said. "I love Powder Mountain. It's the only place I ski," he said. "So, we're looking for a way to come to terms." Davis said she could not comment on the possibility of any compromise that would secure voting rights for the residents until she has more details. She added that the owners were not concerned about the possible disenfranchisement or about the possibility the law might be unconstitutional. "They've been really proactive under the law that exists, and I don't think they've even thought about that," she said. If the Powderville Six cannot reach a compromise with Powder Mountain owners, Halay said, they may have to seek legal aid. The Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has received two complaints about the law, said Marina Lowe, a staff attorney for the ACLU. It has not come up with a position yet, but will be looking into it, she said. In the meantime, the Powderville Six are making plans and hoping that future Powder Mountain residents will have a vote in their new town.

The future of Powder Mountain, and the entire Ogden Valley is at stake.

Regardless how you may feel about the bill that passed the Utah House and Senate in late 2007 (allows easy incporporation of a township with no vote required by those who find themselves within the township boundary, circumventing the county planning and zoning approval process), I recommend you subscribe to "The Ogden Valley Utah Forum" by clicking on this link: http://ogden-valley.blogspot.com/, then provide your email address under "For Email Updates, Subscribe Below" box. In addition, if you feel strongly about allowing development to proceed at more reasonable density levels, I strongly recommend you sign the petition link on this same website.

The ultimate decision around allowing the new Powder Mountain owners to develop that area at twice the density vs what was approved and recommended by the Ogden Valley Planning Commission, plus other key limitations including secondary road access (currently one road used to access the resort, with grade exceeding 13% in areas!), reduction in golf course acreage (water is a HUGE deal here) is at stake.

Time is short!

Whether you are a current or future owner of property in the Ogden Valley, or someone who enjoys periodic visits to our beautiful area, the near-term Powder Mountain township decision will forever change the look and feel of the Ogden Valley for the long term, good or bad.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

John Allaire