BOARD WILL REVIEW PROPOSAL AGAIN ON MAY 20
Brice Wallace
The idea of an inland port area in western Weber County continues to draw criticism as a decision to officially create it nears.
The Utah Inland Port Authority board will take up the matter at a May 20 meeting. At the board’s most recent meeting, opponents to the proposed West Weber project area submitted a petition with more than 1,500 signatures from people and organizations who want the project to undergo more study.
The project area was discussed at the board’s January meeting but authority officials have been meeting with various stakeholders since then as they continue to review the matter and opponents’ concerns focusing on wetlands, environmental, traffic and congestion issues.
The proposed project area consists of the Little Mountain and Weber Bend zones totaling about 8,785 acres east of Promontory Point near the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake and near wetlands in the Harold S. Crane and Ogden Bay waterfowl management areas.
“We’re happy to get more comments and adjust the plan however as needed,” said Ben Hart, UIPA’s executive director. “We’re going to be flexible and make sure that we’re protecting the sensitive lands that are in that area.
“We’re not going to beat around the bush, there are a lot of wetlands in this area, and we take seriously our responsibility to make sure that those wetlands are protected. So, we’re not going to hide them, it’s going to be a public conversation and then ultimately how we protect them, we want open feedback from the public, from those who are concerned and from other stakeholders.”
The port authority is seeking to improve the state’s logistics system, boost manufacturing and exporting, and get more goods moving on rail rather than via trucks.
At the board’s January meeting, supporters of the creation of the West Weber project area said it could help the county realize its vision there for the next half-century. Supporters have said the area has the potential for new jobs, a boost to the local economy, access to state and federal resources, and assisting with the development of the West Weber Industrial District and Renewable Energy Hub. UIPA documents indicate that economic development incentives would generally favor advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, distribution and logistics, data centers and renewable energy.
In a news release earlier this year, UIPA said the port authority’s overarching mission is “to balance economic growth with ecological preservation.”
But opponents at the board’s April 29 meeting called for more review of the project’s possible impacts. Deeda Seed, of the Center for Biological Diversity and the Stop the Polluting Port Coalition, called the project plan “a recipe for disaster” and said it would create havoc to the nearby wetlands.
“Significant public harm will be caused by paving over, destroying and impairing thousands of acres of Great Salt Lake’s biological wetlands, and, to add insult to injury, taxpayer dollars will be used to subsidize this destruction,” Seed told the board. “Fast-tracked industrial development that the port authority proposes will destroy wetlands and the surrounding environment, creating a cascading series of environmental harm, water pollution, water depletion and habitat loss.”
Seed said the board is “about to rush ahead” with the approval and that the community “does not know much about what’s being proposed.”
“It feels like this is being rushed before people can object,” added Rhonda Lauritzen of Hooper, who also called for further review, saying “there must be time for answers.” She worries that large trucks and bright parking lot lights will cause the development to have “a mammoth impact.”
Taxpayers already are spending money to manage the nearby wetlands, she said. “The waterfowl areas have already been budgeted as wetlands. Industrial development right next door would undo all of that protection and funding,” she said.
Ken Kraus of Salt Lake City described the proposed project area as “nearly 9,000 acres begging to be inundated by hundreds of warehouses, rail spurs, roads, water, power, diesel trucks and trains — things we call ‘progress.’”
Kraus said the port “will not and cannot be a shining star among county achievements, but rather a profit-driven impediment to public health and to the well-being of our built and unbuilt environments.”
Before their comments, Hart said the Weber County Commission already has established industrial development as the best use for the project area and that a part of the authority’s wetlands policy calls for a portion of the tax differential for project areas be used to protect wetlands and the Great Salt Lake.
“What the port does bring is additional protections for the existing wetlands and the lake,” he said. “In addition to additional protections, the inland port authority also brings funding. So, part of our funding stream will actually go back to protect the wetlands and the lake.”
Hart noted that the authority has been listening to all stakeholders.
“So, this is not something that’s being done in an isolated echo chamber,” he said. “And I will say, they have influenced ultimately how we are moving this forward and we’ve made some adjustments to make sure that we’re maintaining the protection for the wetland and for the lake that’s necessary.”
If approved, West Weber would join eight other project areas in the state: an area in Salt Lake County, including in the Northwest Quadrant of Salt Lake City and parts of West Valley City and Magna; the Iron Springs Inland Port near Cedar City; the Verk Industrial Park project area in Spanish Fork; the Golden Spike project area in Garland, Tremonton, Brigham City and other parts of Box Elder County; the Central Utah Agri-Park in three parts of Juab County; the Mineral Mountains project area, consisting of four zones in Beaver County in parts of Beaver City, Beaver County and Milford City; the Tooele Valley area; and the Twenty Wells area in Grantsville in Tooele County.
The board approved the creation of each of those areas, except for the Northwest Quadrant, last year.