Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

NORTH OGDEN — A developer’s controversial proposal to increase the size of an apartment building at Village at Prominence Point has fizzled, but even at the originally proposed size, the planned facility is drawing fire.

“We still do not want it,” said Sandy Cochran, who lives in a town home abutting the site of the planned independent living facility.

The planned independent living facility is to be built on a vacant lot surrounded by Village at Prominence Point patio homes and town homes, and critics worry it’ll hamper the view from their homes and add to traffic issues on the development’s narrow streets. Neighbors had worried the enlarged building, if the expansion plans were approved, would have exacerbated such issues.

It’s the latest controversy to erupt in connection with Village at Prominence Point, or VPP, an expansive development of town homes, patio homes and apartment buildings taking shape on a 33-acre parcel off Washington Boulevard in North Ogden. The complex, when completely built out, will contain 600-plus housing units.

Jack Barrett, the developer behind VPP, appeared Tuesday before the North Ogden City Council, making the case for increasing the footprint of the planned independent living facility, geared to those aged 55 and up. It’s one element of the overall project, to take shape on a 1.35-acre island of land in the northwestern portion of VPP.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

North Ogden officials approved the VPP plans in 2017 and Barrett said market dynamics have changed since then. The proposed facility in the 2017 plans, “was conceptual,” and tastes and market trends have changed since then, accounting for the expanded building size. “People are needing more work space,” Barrett said.

The building as originally proposed would measure 21,815 square-feet, divided into one three-story section and another four-story section. Barrett’s proposed expansion would enlarge the building to 26,650 square-feet, a 22.2% increase, and extend its overall length from 330 feet to 360 feet. It would contain 68 apartments, same as the original proposal, but each of the units would be bigger.

The North Ogden Planning Commission recommended approval of the increase, but the city council, after discussing it Tuesday, passed on the proposal, essentially killing it.

“I don’t even have to think twice about the (independent living facility),” said City Councilperson Blake Cevering. “I’m a no-go on any kind of adjustment on the ILF.”

Councilperson Jay Dalpias expressed concern about the proximity of the apartment building to the other patio homes and town homes already in place and the potential lack of privacy between them.

Image supplied, North Ogden Planning Commission documents

Barrett had also put forward a proposal to halt development of a pedestrian path taking shape along the western side of VPP, along Coldwater Creek. But the council, too, nixed that request. “We keep the trail. We don’t mess with the trail,” Cevering said.

Tuesday’s moves notwithstanding, the planned 55-and-up apartment complex remains a sore point for some. The continued absence of other promised amenities to be built in VPP — like swimming pools, pickleball courts and more — has also been a point of contention for some residents.

Cochran said she knew the plans for the 55-and-up facility were in the works when she acquired her town home abutting the apartment complex location. But she thought it wouldn’t have been as large as planned, part of it four-stories high. Others in VPP, she said, weren’t even aware it was to be built.

Moreover, Cochran worries the building, once constructed, will obstruct the view of motorists driving the narrow street encircling part of the lot, creating a potential hazard. She noted that many kids play outside in the sidewalks and streets of the development, lacking a park area.

Dean Ito lives in a patio home across from the lot, which remains undeveloped. She didn’t learn of the plans until after she acquired her home and wouldn’t have moved to VPP had she known.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

“The soon-to-be-built facility is right in my face. That four-story monster is right across the small street,” Ito said. “It would take dozens of sheets of paper to let you know how frustrated many of us are about this skyscraper.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council approved changes to a separate element of the VPP plans, allowing the layout of a different apartment structure to be shifted slightly, as sought by the developer. As a condition of the change, officials are requiring the developer to build a clubhouse for certain VPP residents when the first of the other apartment buildings are built, mindful of some residents’ criticism about the lacking amenities.