Developers pushing to create town in Ogden Valley

HUNTSVILLE, Weber County (Deseret News) — Red octagonal signs that read "Stop Powder Mountain Town" are frozen into towering drifts of snow in yards throughout Ogden Valley and Ogden Canyon.

Next door to the community's only grocer, a banner reading "Help Rescue the Powder Mountain Captives" hangs on the custom-built railing of Eden Coffee and Cocoa Co.

Sentiment is clear in the sleepy, rural valley, but developers who would make a town out of Powder Mountain ski resort — and add thousands of condos and new visitors to it — are pushing forward.

"This whole saga going on, it seems never-ending," said Larry Zini, a valley resident who's been recruited to help residents raise money for legal fees. "It's a company town in the worst sense of the word."

A bill that would allow residents of Powder Mountain to vote on their town council and mayor is being held up on Capitol Hill despite hard lobbying by the local state representative and support from county officials.

At issue is a controversial law that allows developers to create towns and approve elected officials without building consensus from residents.

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