After incorporation, judge dismisses lawsuit focused on Ogden Valley development

OGDEN — Nearly a year after it was filed, a lawsuit against Weber County commissioners that stemmed from a ski development proposal in the Ogden Valley has been dismissed.

County officials and David Carver reached accord on ending the suit, and 2nd District Judge Craig Hall dismissed the case Jan. 8.

"Each party is to bear its own attorney fees and costs," reads the short decision. The action isn't a surprise after the judge rebuffed a motion last August for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented county officials from exercising land-use authority over an area of the Ogden Valley ahead of its incorporation.

At any rate, the issue is now a moot point as incorporation of the area in question formally took effect on Jan. 2. That means the new locale's mayor and City Council are now in charge of addressing land-use questions in the zone, taking over from county commissioners.

The lawsuit filed by Carver, who had touted incorporation, had called for a halt by county officials in making zoning, land-use and other related decisions ahead of incorporation. Approval of varied measures by county commissioners setting some of the parameters for development of a ski village near the Nordic Valley resort, now inside the new city's boundaries, spurred the filing of the lawsuit on Jan. 28 last year.

Hall's decision last August dealt a blow to Carver's suit. Then the Utah Supreme Court rejected Carver's bid to appeal the decision last November, leading to last week's dismissal. A desire for more local control over development has motivated the push for incorporation.