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Ogden Gondola: Developer could own, operate it; city might not sell golf course
By Kristen Moulton

The Salt Lake Tribune



Chris Peterson, who wants to build a resort in the mountains above Ogden and a gondola to reach the resort, may make "significant" changes in his proposal before formally filing it with Ogden City this winter, Mayor Matthew Godfrey said Monday.
Godfrey, in a meeting with The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial board, said Peterson may not buy the Mount Ogden Golf Course, as previously envisioned, and the developer may propose that he own - as well as operate - a gondola from downtown to the foothills.
"There may be some very significant changes in the next three weeks," Godfrey said. "We are looking at doing this without selling the golf course."
Peterson could not be reached Monday for comment.
The mayor said the developer has been revising his plan after listening to public comments made last spring in a series of forums that drew hundreds of residents.
Many residents in this northern Utah community of 78,000 - the mayor insists it's a majority - embrace the notion of a gondola from downtown linking to the foothills, where it would link up with a mountain gondola leading to Peterson's resort in Malans Basin.
Others object that the city should not sell one of its chief assets: a large swath of open space, including the golf course, in the foothills on the east side of the city.
As presented in forums last spring, Peterson wanted to buy the golf course and reconfigure it as part of a 400-home subdivision that would also cover about 50 acres of land now owned by the city above the golf course and 150 acres belonging to Weber State University.
The housing project, which would include a small commercial area where the urban and mountain gondolas would meet above WSU's campus, would provide the money for Peterson to build the resort and gondolas, he said.
Previously, the mayor has advocated that the city sell the golf course to Peterson and use the money to pay most of the costs of building a gondola that would run from downtown to the hillside above WSU.
The mayor said Monday that he had committed to raising $5 million from private sources toward the costs, with the golf-course sale providing the remaining $20 million to $25 million. Peterson would have operated the urban gondola for the city, linking it with his own mountain gondola.
The new idea - the mayor described it as "evolving" - is for Peterson to build, own and operate the urban gondola as well as the mountain gondola.
Peterson would strike an agreement with Utah Transit Authority so commuter-rail riders arriving in downtown Ogden would be able to transfer to Peterson's gondola to WSU without paying any more than they would pay for a bus ticket, Godfrey said.
FrontRunner commuter rail is due to reach Ogden next year.
Godfrey rejected the notion of allowing Ogden residents to vote - even in a nonbinding referendum - on the project he has described as the biggest thing to hit Ogden since the railroad in the 1800s.
It would set a precedent for the public to vote on even inconsequential decisions, subverting the democratic process, he said.
Godfrey did not rule out a city-sponsored poll, but said none is planned.
The mayor also said while Peterson's proposed resort would not "initially" connect to Snowbasin ski resort on the east side of the mountain, he's convinced the two resorts ultimately would link up.
"I don't think there's any doubt. It's my opinion the two will eventually connect."
A senior vice president for Snowbasin's owner, The Sinclair Companies, sent Godfrey a letter last spring asking him to stop saying there is a connection between the two resorts.
"The two resorts will not connect," Sinclair's Clint Ensign said in an interview.
The Sinclair Companies is owned by Earl Holding, Chris Peterson's father-in-law. Peterson formerly worked for the company.
He makes no claim that his resort will connect to Snowbasin, but has pointed out that it took Alta and Snowbird many years of operating as neighbors before they allowed skiers to pass between the resorts.