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Show A-22 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, March 9-12, 2019 The Park Record Meetings and agendas More dogs on Main By Tom Clyde TO PUBLISH YOUR PUBLIC NOTICES AND AGENDAS, PLEASE EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@PARKRECORD.COM Quinns park and ride Notice is hereby given that the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission will meet in regular session Tuesday, March 12, 2019 Location: Sheldon Richins Building (Library), 1885 West Ute Boulevard, Park City, UT 84098 AGENDA Agenda items may or may not be discussed in the order listed. 4:30 p.m. Regular Session 1. Public input for items not on the agenda or pending applications. 2. Election of Chair and Vice Chair. 3. Public hearing and possible action regarding a Code Amendments to Sections 10-2-4 Rural Residential (RR) Zone of the Snyderville Basin Development Code. - Ray Milliner, Principal Planner 4. Approval of minutes: January 22, 2019 Work Session 1. Discussion regarding a Sketch Plan application for the Ivers Family subdivision.– Amir Caus, County Planner 2. Discussion regarding possible amendments to the Snyderville Basin Development Code creating a Neighborhood Mixed Use zoning district (NMU-1); Henry Sigg, Representative. –Ray Milliner, Principal Planner DRC Updates Commission Comments Director Items Adjourn A majority of Snyderville Basin Planning Commission members may meet socially after the meeting. If so, the location will be announced by the Chair or Vice-Chair. County business will not be conducted. To view staff reports available after Friday, March 8, 2019 please visit: www.summitcounty.org Individuals needing special accommodations pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding this meeting may contact Melissa Hardy, Summit County Community Development Department, at (435) 615-3157. Posted: March 8, 2019 Published: March 9, 2019 – The Park Record Massive Aspen development plan came down to 26 votes to get the news you care about It’s absolutely in the wrong place. No matter where you are coming from, you can’t get there. That could be solved. Kamas traffic could turn from 248 to what is affectionately known as the “old dump road,” and enter the Richardson lot from that direction. That would need Wasatch County to plow the road more diligently, and probably a light at the Browns Canyon intersection. That’s reaching the point of needing one anyway with the amount of cross traffic from all the new condos there. Heber traffic would need an offramp from Highway 40 on to the old dump road that would feed directly into the lot. To get the buses into town, there would have to be a light where the dump road connects to 248 at the merge. So that’s possible, but not cheap, and the lot is still in a wasteland of toxic tailings. That solution is far too sim- Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986. You know the signs... The Aspen Times Call 435–649–9014 Deep down, culturally, we are not bus people.” ple for Park City. They have their eye on 70 acres owned by UDOT east of Highway 40, on either side of 248. That’s a better location, and there are utilities nearby that would allow construction of a restroom building. A coffee shop/convenience store would help. If you could use the transfer from the bus to your car at the end of the day as an opportunity to pick up a quart of milk or tank of gas, it begins to work. There’s access to the rail trail, and Councilman Steve Joyce floated the idea of being able to pick up e-bikes there instead of the bus and ride into town. It seems plausible, but to find out if it will work, the City has hired a consultant for a jaw-dropping $420,000. I assumed that was a misprint. But I dug out the actual Council meeting minutes, and the contract amount is $418,945. For the study. I’d guess the actual parking lot could be built for $418,946. I’m clearly in the wrong line of work. The lot needs to be directly accessible from 248 and 40. It needs civilization in the form of restrooms, enclosed bus shelters, and security so your car isn’t stripped while parked out in the wilderness. It needs frequent, non-stop buses to both ski areas. To really class it up, the adjoining land needs to be zoned to allow a convenience store, gas station, coffee shop, and maybe child care so dropping the kids off is part of the transition. You got that for the price of the paper. Keep the change. By Teri Orr SCOTT CONDON Don’t get buried in news you don’t need. parking lot at Richardson Flat. The snow is plowed, the lights are on all night, and nobody parks there. It was built about 10 years ago, primarily as a parking lot for the construction workers on the Montage Hotel project. But aside from a few special events (it worked pretty well for Sundance), the lot is empty. Mostly, it doesn’t work because there isn’t a bus to transfer to. If somebody decided to do the right thing, and park at Richardson Flat, they are more likely to be eaten by coyotes than get on a bus. sunday in the Park Lift One plan to reshape mountain base area ASPEN, Colo. – The proponents of the Lift One proposal needed every bit of a well-funded and well-oiled campaign effort to squeak out a victory in a Tuesday election in Aspen. Voters approved the massive development plan 1,555 in favor to 1,529 against – 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent. “Actually, I said all along I’d be happy with 50.1 to 49.9. It looks like we got there,” said Jim DeFrancia, president of Lowe Enterprises, which is a partner in the Gorsuch Haus, a hotel that is part of the plan. “I liken it to a football game. You can win by seven touchdowns or one point. Either way, you’re in the win column.” Campaign finance reports filed with the city of Aspen showed the Lift One proponents spent about $283,000 while opponents had spent about $15,000 as of the most recent report. “I’m crushed,” said John Doyle, a leading opponent of the project. “I knew it was going to be close.” Although the margin of victory was slim, it wasn’t close enough to trigger an automatic recount. “Based on current calculations, there would be no automatic recount,” said city attorney Jim True. Aspen residents were asked to vote on a proposal crafted in negotiations between the developers of a lodge and a hotel, Aspen Skiing Co. and representatives of the city government. One of the drivers of the plan was bringing the replacement for Lift 1A down the mountain another 500 feet from its current lower terminal location to Dean Street. The Lift One corridor plan encompasses more than 320,000 square feet of commercial space, which includes the 107,000-square-foot timeshare project known as the Lift One Lodge and a 64,000-square-foot I made a pledge to quit ranting about the traffic on S.R. 248. It wasn’t making any difference. The problem could be significantly mitigated with about $500 in paint to re-stripe two lanes going into town. It might be solved for even less with a sign that said “FORM TWO LANES” so that the center left turn lane (from which there are no left turns) became a traffic lane. People would figure it out. Maybe. They seem completely baffled by the merge. I’m resigned to the reality that it will take longer to get from Quinns to Comstock than it took to drive 30 miles from my house to Quinns. That 2 mph creep into town has become a sort of meditative period. I spend it listening to podcasts or music. If there’s a positive side to the Trump administration, it’s a great distraction from traffic problems. The city is determined not to widen the road because cars are seen as the problem. Anybody trying to park at the ski resorts this winter would have to agree. But non-car solutions aren’t all that easily implemented. That’s a cultural change, not a change in traffic patterns. Changing the fundamental transportation system of the American West, which has existed from the days when everybody rode their own horse, is a little more complicated. Deep down, culturally, we are not bus people. The city has hired a consultant to study the idea of a parkand-ride lot that would intercept the traffic on 248 and U.S. 40 somewhere in the Quinns Junction area. The idea is that people would park their cars out yonder and stand in the cold to wait for a bus for the last leg of their trip. It’s presented as a new idea, but there already is a 750-car ANNA STONEHOUSE/THE ASPEN TIMES Lift One proponents campaign for a “yes” vote on the ballot question outside of Aspen, Colorado’s city hall on Tuesday evening. luxury hotel called the Gorsuch Haus. Lift One Lodge will add 34 fractional interest and six full-interest condominiums at the base. Gorsuch Haus will add 81 rooms. Mixed in and around the tourist accommodations are bars and restaurants, skiers’ services, an underground parking garage and a ski museum. Both sides agreed Tuesday night that making the bottom terminal of the chairlift was a key to the vote. “It was the bright, shiny object that got everybody distracted,” Doyle said. Opponents of the project were concerned about the traffic it will generate, the lack of affordable housing construction required of the developers, the city’s contribution of $4.36 million, the mass of the project and the effects on the Norway ski trail. Proponents touted the revitalization of the original base area of Aspen Mountain with hot beds, cold beers, restaurants and a more accessible ski lift. Jeff Gorsuch, a principal in the Gorsuch Haus, thanked about 100 supporters at an election night party. “Tonight it’s about 26 people that made the difference but the story tomorrow will be about a community that comes together with varying viewpoints,” Gorsuch told the crowd. “You respect people and move forward.” Michael Brown, a partner in the Lift One Lodge, said he wasn’t surprised by the close outcome. “We probably flipped three or four votes today at 4 o’clock at the Jerome,” he said. He estimated that the Lift One team contacted up to 1,000 people on Election Day alone through emails and door-to-door contact. “Obviously the lift coming down is the linchpin that we all rallied behind,” Brown said. He felt the collaboration between the developers, city, Skico and other players also resonated with voters. He said he understood the opposition to some degree. Aspen residents are passionate about protecting the community. Brown said the redeveloped base will be a project that makes the community proud. “This is really going to be something special for the community,” Brown said. “I very much look at this as a community spot and people will come to realize that.” DeFrancia echoed the sentiment. “I respect those that opposed it. They had their reasons and it’s the way democracy works,” he said. “I want to assure them as well as our supporters that we are going to do a good job. They’ll be proud of what we do and when we finish they’ll look at it and say I’m glad it turned out this way.” Doyle said he was pleased that the vote was as close as it was, though obviously disappointed by the loss. “It showed this is a divisive issue,” Doyle said. He hopes that the debate continues based on the close outcome. “The tulips are too excitable, it is winter here,” I said in my head to no one and everyone around me. I have said this phrase so many winters in my adult life — when the tulips show up in the grocery store — months before their appointed, anticipated, springtime arrival. I am quoting Sylvia Plath, of course, the poet who met a tragic end in the ’60s with her head in her oven and her two children upstairs barricaded away... It would take 20 more years for her to posthumously win the Pulitzer Prize. Her novel “The Bell Jar” was required reading for young women of the ’70s. And her book of poems “Ariel” — published posthumously — was a kind of road map through the journey of her depression. An English professor I had in my freshman year of college, an impossibly handsome young man, had introduced me to her work. I was 18, engaged to be married and it must have been obvious, to at least the professor, I needed a bit of depth. Of gravitas. Of reality. Hence the introduction. “Dying is an art, I do it well. I do it, so it feels like hell.” Plath had suffered from bouts of depression most of her life. During her teenage years. During her studies at the prestigious Smith College and during her tumultuous marriage to the disarmingly handsome and charismatic fellow poet/writer Ted Hughes. I was admittedly scared of her work. It whispered dark side invitations and it summoned demons and dragons of the mind — the devil’s playground if attended. I bought the long-stemmed red tulips I found in the market this week and I brought them home and arranged them — just so — with some pussy willows, in an antique Fiesta wear, round shaped, black pitcher. They have been their own poem living loud on the low table in the living room all week. Though T.S. Eliot famously declared in his poem “The Wasteland,” “April is the cruelest month,” anyone who has ever suffered from depression can tell you — any month — can be the cruelest month. Living in a ski town can take its toll on your psyche. The flat white light and endless days without sun. The cold. The lack of living things to remind you of hope and rebirth and the very process of life renewing life. The cycle of white and cold can start to freeze a soul, a spirit, even a soupçon of hope. I am not prone to quote USA Today but in December it had very convincing research that showed in 2017 Utah led the nation in depression. Utah. We love to brag about our being first in anything here but this statistic has laid heavy on my heart. I have family members who suffer from depression. Both my immediate and extended family. I was treated for depression that same year I discovered Sylvia Plath. I told no one. Not my family or my fiancé. There was such shame attached ... such failure ... such a hard time sep- Living in a ski town can take its toll on your psyche. The flat white light and endless days without sun. The cold. The lack of living things to remind you of hope and rebirth and the very process of life renewing life.” arating the illness from the stigma. I remember about 20 years ago when my nephew tried to explain to my mother he was seeking treatment for his daughter who was suffering from depression. He asked if there was any history in our family of that. Since, of course, we had never spoken of such things. My mother exploded in the retelling of the story. “Can you imagine!” she bellowed into the phone. “That anyone suffered from depression in OUR side of the family? Must have come from that trashy woman he married.” I suggested to my mother that her mother had — in fact — suffered from depression. I remembered the stories that every couple of years my grandmother would go to the Seventh-day Adventist hospital in Loma Linda, California, to “dry out” from both alcohol and Phenobarbital. My mother screamed into the phone... “Your grandmother wasn’t depressed! “She! Was! Irish!” And there you have it. This week I was a passenger in a friend’s car, which is very different place for me to ride. I am almost always the driver. (Which reminds of what writer Callie Khouri said about having her characters in the film “Thelma and Louise” tell most of their story behind the wheel of a car. “I knew for these women to drive the story — they would have to be driving the car.”) But I digress. So I am in this fancy car that is displaying the details of the music on a screen and I am pleasantly surprised my younger, hipster friend is playing the music of Jason Isbell and his band, The 400 Unit. The name of his band comes from “a colloquial name for the psychiatric ward of Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence, Alabama.” Isbell has famously struggled with addiction and depression all his adult life. And his songs often address those issues. Yes, he wrote the song “Maybe It’s Time” for “A Star is Born” that Bradley Cooper sang. But it is an older song I am of thinking of this time, from 2015, “The Life You Chose,” that plays in my head... “Who are you if not the one I met? One July night before the town went wet, Jack and Coke in your mama’s car. You were reading The Bell Jar.” And I am back to my old friend ... Sylvia. So when we hear ... beware of the Ides of March ... we might find it an archaic expression that related to ancient battles. I would say the battles folks face this time of year are often death defying. We would do well to keep our hearts open and hearths warm and steady ourselves for some more sunless days. Buy the damn excitable tulips. Display them proudly. Look around for someone who could use their own bouquet — any day ... like this very Sunday in the Park... Teri Orr is a former editor of The Park Record. She is the director of the Park City Institute, which provides programming for the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts. |