Powder Mountain developers pull out
WEBER COUNTY–Plans to develop the Powder Mountain ski area into a larger resort have been put on hold after developer Brent Ferrin and Associates pulled the plug in Weber County.
“The wording they used was they were not exercising their option to buy,” said Tonia Wilson, administrative assistant for the Weber County Commission.
Ferrin told The Hard News Café on Oct. 8 he and Powder Mountain owner Alvin Cobabe had agreed on a selling price and were set to close Nov. 1. But few have heard from Ferrin since, including Cobabe.
“We have had no communication with him,” Cobabe said. “We know as much as you do. We’re just going to continue running our resort like we always have.”
Some speculate the sudden change of heart may be attributed to a lack of investors.
“In bad economic times, especially when ski resorts are losing money, investors want to see substantial progress before investing money for the purchase of land,” said David Witherspoon, member of the board for Save Our Canyons, a Salt Lake City environmental group.
Powder Mountain’s future has raised many doubts from county leaders, especially in Weber.
The only access to Powder Mountain, which straddles Weber and Cache counties, is through Ogden Canyon. That leaves emergency services up to Weber County. The nearest water is Pine View Reservoir on the Weber County side. Electricity is on that side of the mountain, too, which would have left the bulk of utilities up to Weber County and its taxpayers.
“This is a tremendous relief to the residents of Cache Valley,” said Jim Steitz, president of the Ecological Coalition of Students (ECOS), a student branch of the Sierra Club at Utah State University. “There will always be developers who want to turn our landscape into their money machine. But in the end, the desires of the citizens usually prevail.”
An avalanche of questions now remain about what the future holds for Powder Mountain and whether or not Ferrin will be a part of it.
“This probably won’t be the last Park City developer to come to our valley,” Steitz said. “We are, in fact, safe for now.”
–tobyghayes@cc.usu.edu