November 3, 1996 Candidates seek controlled growth Many hope to serve on township boards for respective areas By GREG KRATZ and CHARLES F. TRENTELMAN Standard-Examiner staff When they go to the polls Tuesday, residents in six Weber County areas will decide whether they want to become part of a township. A majority of all the registered voters in each area, not just a majority of those who vote, will need to support the township proposals for them to gain approval. If they approve the townships in East Huntsville, Hooper, Marriott, Slaterville, Warren and West Warren/Reese, those areas will get their own, seven-member planning and zoning boards. Three of those members will be chosen from among slates of candidates on this year's ballot. The Standard-Examiner called the candidates and asked the question, "Do you consider yourself pro-growth or anti-growth? And why?" Marriott township Gerald W. Bischoff, 53, retired "I don't feel like I'm in either category. I feel what we need to do is be pro-active toward the future. Change is inevitable, and we need to respond appropriately. Some change is good, and it may involve some growth. And some change is bad, so we need to reject it." Barbara Brown, 43, teacher "I'm not in favor of a lot of commercial growth. I want it to remain country-type, not another suburb of Ogden. I like the closeness of our small community." ? Judith M. Elmer, 43, self-employed "I think I would probably lean closer to a pro-growth stance. The reason I would say that is I would like to see Marriott develop fairly, as the citizens would like to see it done, all available properties that are here, whether it be residential or business." ? Delbert Hodson, 46, farmer and school bus driver "I know that there's going to be some growth. I would like to see this area keep its country atmosphere... I was born here and we've been in the area for about four generations. I wouldn't say I'm anti-growth, I'd just like to see it managed properly so we can keep this country atmosphere, what's left of it here." Bill M. Morris, 23, legal clerk and full-time Weber State University student "When growth is handled through correct, proper channels and people in the community see growth benefiting the community, I am certainly in favor of it. Growth is good for communities when it can benefit, but destructive when it's not handled properly." Eric D. Olsen, 36, farmer and administrative assistant "In Marriott, actually I'm real neutral on the idea. Given our particular community, I don't want to say anti-growth, because I believe there's room for growth. I guess I'd say controlled. I just want to see it done in a fashion that won't upset the locals." Randy Phipps, 48, supervisor for recreation department at Weber State University "I am pro-residential growth, anti-commercial growth in a small community. But I'm pro-, county growth. Small communities lose a lot of their closeness when you have major growth slice up the middle of your community. I guess I'm pretty much for the status quo. I wouldn't see changing anything in the master plan." Slaterville township Von E. Allred, 39, sales representative for Hajoca Corp., plumbing supply "I'm pretty much anti-growth. If I have to be in one or the other I'm more anti-. I'm more controlled growth than anti-growth. That's kind of the feeling of most of the people in the area. We would like to see it remain a rural atmosphere. People like to have animals, horses and cows and things." W. Brent Barton, 41, aircraft mechanic at Hill Air Force Base Could not be reached, but family members said he wants to keep the area rural. Alan L. Brown, 42, maintenance worker for Weber School District "That depends on the situation. I'm both pro- and anti-, depending on the individual situation. I don't want high-density housing, but I also don't mind housing in this area that meets our zoning requirements. I've lived here for a long time, and I want it to stay rural." Keith H. Butler, 66, plant manager "I'm anti-growth. The reason I'm anti-growth in my area is because we're a rural community and we want to stay that way. I've been in community planning for 27 years, and that's what we fought for, to stay rural." Vern L. Butler, 48, aircraft mechanic at Hill Air Force Base "Well, I don't mind seeing growth in areas where it should be, but in places where it's not really good to build I don't want to see it." Carolyn B. Deru, 55, assistant to the Dean of Arts and Humanities, Weber State University "I don't believe there is any way you can stop growth, but I think you need to have some sort of master plan, so you've got some kind of control." Orvil Holley, 70, retired seminary teacher "I am pro-families, and so we want our community to grow in such a way as it will be conducive to raising our children and providing homes in the future for those who come after. I support the zoning that we now have in our community, which is one acre for houses unless they can hook to the sewer, and then they can zone to half acre." Ren L. Meyerhoffer, 47, maintenance worker for Cargill Flour Mill "I'm probably somewhere in the middle, but I lean toward anti-growth. I like the rural atmosphere." Kim R. Slater, 48, dairy farmer "I don't consider myself either pro-growth or anti-growth. I wouldn't encourage anyone to put in big subdivisions in our area, and I'm not opposed to people developing their own property to their own best advantage if it meets with current community standards, which in our area is one acre if they can't hook to a sewer, and half an acre if they can." Rob Smout, 32, network analyst at Matrixx Marketing "I don't know that I could say I'm either. I think anti-growth is unrealistic because growth is going to happen. I am not pro-growth because I am not out soliciting new growth or new things coming in. I would take the stand that I am for controlled or managed growth." 55