Mr. Goodyear's Neighborhood - Amy Wicks, Open Space & Preserving Trail Access
At 26 miles, Ogden’s Bonneville Shoreline trail is the longest continuous section in the state. This 26 mile section of single track trail also connects the communities of Pleasant View, North Ogden, South Ogden and Ogden. More than anything else the greater Ogden area has to offer, the Bonneville Shoreline trail brings more people and economic impact to the county than all other amenities combined. If public access to the Ogden trails are taken away, it poses a serious risk to the to the economic well-being of our little mountain towns.
Serving 3 terms as an Ogden City councilwoman, Amy Wicks has been an Ogden community leader and activist for a long time. Serving as a council-women during the ‘Lift Ogden’ era when the Ogden City Mayor’s office, the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce and local developer Chris Petersen wanted to connect downtown Ogden with the Snowbasin ski resort. The proposal outlined a gondola from Washington Blvd. to Weber State and then from Weber State to a new Malan’s Resort in the foothills of Ogden, owned by Chris Petersen. At the time, Chris Petersen had a direct relationship with Sinclair Oil, which owns Snowbasin Resort. You see, Mr. Petersen helped bring the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Snowbasin by developing the ski resort to what it is today…he’s built a gondola before. With lifts from downtown Ogden to the foothills, and then a potential road or tram from Snowbasin to Mr. Petersen’s new resort in the Malan’s Basin, Ogden would be a one-of-a-kind mountain town. None of it worked out, however. Chris Petersen and Amy are the only two players left in the Lift Ogden drama that played out from 2005 to 2008, but we’re all still dealing with the effects of the project that seemed doomed from the beginning.
In this episode of The Banyan Collective’s, Mr. Goodyear’s neighborhood, we sat down with Amy Wicks and hashed out the Lift Ogden history. Since the project failed 8 years ago, Mr. Petersen has built fences surrounding his ‘TR Guest Ranch’ and has on several occasions limited access to the 2 miles of BST trail that runs through his property, claiming there is not a prescriptive easement. Are Mr. Petersen’s recent actions retribution for the lack of community support for his resort and gondola plans? Is all of this just a play by Mr. Petersen to get the best selling price for his land? What precedent does it establish with other land owners along the BST should Mr. Petersen sell his land to the government? What really happened during the Lift Ogden era? We address all of these questions and more in this 3-part interview with Ogden’s most active community organizer. Please tune in and get involved.
