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Show City -Wide Plan for Parks, Recreation, Landscaping Explored PV "if V I sJ Richard Roy enumerates the goals of a Townscape study. The planning commission last week gave a modified blessing to a proposal by local landscape architect Jerry Perrine and two west coast associates to do a comprehensive "Townscape" of Park City. Perrine, in conjunction with Hogan and Roy Associates of Laguna Beach, California, propose pro-pose to do an extensive study of Park City's parks, recreation and landscaping needs. The end result would be a "Townscape," which would serve as a guide for park, recreation and landscaping projects that could be funded by the proposed redevelopment agency, or by the city capital improvements budget and various grants. In a presentation before the commission last Wednesday, Perrine and Richard Roy, a partner in the west coast firm, outlined their proposal which concentrates on five basic areas, the parks and recreation system, a Silver Creek greenbelt, Main Street, secondary streets and a city entry area, and a "standards handbook" for private developers. develop-ers. Among the possible projects mentioned in the proposal are some that have been described as part of the redevelopment agency's agen-cy's plan. They include: -an entry "monument", or sign along highway 224 announcing announc-ing the entrance to Park City -a plaza are at the bottom of Main Street near the Kimball Art-Center -street furniture, new sidewalks, side-walks, landscaping and mini-parks mini-parks on Main Street --development of city-owned right of ways and staircases -a Silver Creek greenbelt with bike patch, amphitheatre, picnic areas or ice skating ponds possible landscaping changes and additions to the existing city park and acquisition and development develop-ment of additional park sites. Perrine and Roy began the presentation with a display of slides comparing various scenes in Park City with what has been done in other communities. Roy repeatedly showed examples exam-ples from the northern California coastal town of Port Hueneme, which was the subject of his firm's first major Townscape study. Roy also showed scenes of Main Street in Disneyland, where he was once a staff landscape architect. Roy described how many of the civic projects developed by the Townscape had been implemented implement-ed over a two year period through a redevelopment agency. Pereine, a former member of the planning commission, spoke in favor of the study, noting that Park City is in a stage or rapid growth. "We have to accomodate the growth and it's important to do is in a sensitive manner," said Perrine. "We must be creative." Perrine and Roy also outlined a five-step 20 week process for completing the study, emphasizing emphasiz-ing that they hoped to stress practical projects that could be started immediately after the study is completed, possibly as soon as next spring. The first phase would be to coordinate responsibilities with members of the city staff and possibly set up a "townscape committee" to represent different elements of the community and serve as an advisory board. The next step would involve a study of the community and different sites for possible projects, pro-jects, followed by development of different programs, a schematic design and a preliminary design. City Planner David Preece called for support of the study, saying that "Park City has had a very rich and colorful history" and must now do something to "preseve its character and beauty" in the face of rapid growth. "We've got to bring the park back into Park City," he said. Asked how much the study would cost, Roy said there were a lot of "unknowns" that would make a cost estimate difficult to provide until the exact role of the city staff in the project is determined. City Treasurer Bruce Decker later told the Record that a meeting was planned this week with Roy and his partner, James Hogan, a former planning commissioner com-missioner in Corona, California, to discuss the cost, but he estimated that it would be a "substantial amount." Mayor Leon Uriarte questioned whether the projects outlined in the proposal could fall under the authority of the proposed redevelopment agency. We suggested sug-gested that a representative from the Salt Lake redevelopment agency be invited to speak with the planning commission and city council to determine exactly what can be done. "I think the project itself is great," he said, "but we should understand redevelopment and what we can do." Bruce Decker said some action was needed to expand Park City's heavily used recreation facilities regardless of whether or not it is. funded by the redevelopment agency. ( "It looks as if we're faced with a pressing need to do something," some-thing," he said. "I would hate to see us wait a couple of years until we're pressed into action. Whether Whe-ther or not it's funded by the redevelopment agency, the prob lem is still there and we need to do something." Later in the meeting, the planning commission gave its approval to the proposal, adding that the study should also include possible means for funding the various projects. "We don't need just a study," said commissioner Greg Lawson. "We need financing alternatives." alterna-tives." The recommendation passes to the city council, which has the final decision on whether to fund the study. At the outset of the meeting, David Preece handed out a study he has done showing Park City presently has over nine acres less recreation space than what is needed. Using projections based on building permits issued since the 1970 census, Preece estimated the present population at 4100 persons. According to a formula used by the Urban Land Institute, Park City needs 18 acres of park space, but has only 8.6 acres in its present city park. If population continues to grow at its present rate, said the study, Park City will have a population of 5900 by 1980 and will need 27 acres of park space. By 2000, the estimated population popula-tion will be 17,500 and will require 79 acres of recreational land. V - -i ' . I i X J k. . I -- - iBruiMirffyiiM i iy BSSglya - 1 .-V -TJi I .t! ; - Jerry Perrine and Richard Roy present a map of Park City showing potential park areas. .. - ! .: , i i''f :..':' ',yv riy:" |