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Show VISITOR GUIDE Scene Sports Park City Follies tells the tale of 'An East Side Story.' p a g e c_^ Miners lacrosse team struggles for comeback against West. p g PARK CITY, UTAH www.parkrecord.com The Recycle Utah celebrates Earth Day * Park Keco ^^^^^^ ^M 3 SECTIONS • 60 PAGES Agendas Automotive Business Classifieds Columns Crossword Editorial Education Events Calendar Letters to the Editor Legals Movies Professional Services Restaurant Guide Sports , TV Listings Weather A-8 C-16 B-9 C-12 A-18 C-4 A-19 A-9 C-6 A-19 C-15 C-4 B-12 C-7 B-1 C-10 B-2 VOL. ixt O.I6 rfon/Tues, April 15-16,2006 Utah Count Votes. Dopp, a member of the Desert Green Party, is challenging incumbent Summit County Clerk Sue Follett, a Democrat, in the race to By PATRICK PARKINSON become the county's top election Of the Record staff official. A debate erupted Only a handful of residents Thursday between the two candishowed up Thursday to try dates when Dopp showed up to Summit County's new electronic critique the machines. She alleged the county is stuck voting machines. "It's easier than I thought it with faulty voting equipment was," western Summit County res- because Follett didn't properly ident Robert Wright said after inform Summit County commiscasting a mock ballot at the sioners about the machines' deficiencies. Sheldon Richins Building. "Our lieutenant governor is The demonstration was the first of three scheduled this week to forcing us to use them," Dopp give citizens their first look at said. "I would have recommended equipment they will use to vote to all my county commissioners this year. Six people showed up to that they vote against them." The ATM-style election try the new system. "I'm always a little bit suspi- machines present voters an eleccious of computer voting," Wright tronic ballot. People make decisaid, adding that hackers have him sions by touching the names of nervous that election results might their candidates from those displayed on a computer screen. be tampered with. Diebold officials insist the He is concerned someone may set up the touch-screen voting machines are user friendly, but machines incorrectly and cause an Dopp claims some beginner computer scientists could hack into Election Day crisis. "It could happen," West Side election results. She encourages the Summit resident Kathy Wright added. The couple has followed the County Commission to independcontroversy surrounding Utah Lt. ently audit a sample of the results Gov. Gary Herbert's decision to from the upcoming June primary purchase voting machines from to ensure the new machines work the company, Diebold. Elections correctly. "County commissioners have activists have panned the choice. "One would almost imagine control of budgets and land-use that these Diebold voting issues in the millions (of dollars,)" machines are specifically designed Dopp said. "They could benefit for tampering with elections - to from rigging elections." undetectably rig elections," said As county clerk, Dopp says she Park City resident Kathy Dopp. organizer of the activist group, would attempt to form a commitPlease see Voting, A-2 Clerk candidates spar over voting machines GRAYSON WESVPARK RECORD Mateja Lund carries the cross Friday afternoon down Park Avenue during the Good Friday interfaith pilgrimage from St. Mary's Catholic Church to Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church on S.R. 224. Racketeering lawsuit against county dismissed Attorney David Brickey said. "If a judge rules from the bench against you, you had either a very weak legal argument or you had no legal basis to make the argument." Comparing county officials to mobsters, the By PATRICK PARKINSON plaintiff's attorney, Alain Balmanno, claims past Of th e Reco rd s taff and present Summit County commissioners have A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against used the Snyderville Basin General Plan and Summit County Tuesday after he refused to accept Development Code to illegally obtain amenities a claim that zoning practices in the Snyderville like trails and open space from landowners trying Basin amount to extortion, an attorney for the to develop their property. "That is the very definition of extortion," county said. A group of landowners on the West Side teamed Balmanno said during a telephone interview up last year with a Salt Lake law firm to sue coun- Thursday. But, according to Cassell, before Balmanno can ty staffers, members of the Basin Planning Commission and the Summit County Commission claim RICO statutes were violated, a Third District under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Court judge must deem Summit County's zoning Corrupt Organization Act, widely known as RICO. laws illegal. The judge this week granted a motion Prosecutors have traditionally used the laws to go for summary judgment filed by the county. "It was not an outright rejection," Balmanno after organized crime and civil RICO actions are said about the decision. "[County officials] admitrare. Summit County's racket, the landowners claim, ted in their reply that their incentive zoning is calthey otherwise is costing them millions of dollars in concessions culated to get property which wouldn't have a claim to get.'1 before granting development approvals. The decision to appeal Cassell's ruling hasn't But U.S. District Court Judge Paul Cassell ruled from the bench Tuesday that attorneys for Nadine been made, Balmanno said. But the defendants aren't worried, countered Gillmor, Anderson Development, Evergreen Development and the Bitner and Pace families George Hunt, Summit County's lead defense counhadn't proven county officials committed racket- sel. "What you have here are two completely differeering. "It's a real vindication," Summit County ent visions for the future of Summit County," Hunt Landowners had claimed that zoning laws amount to extortion said during a telephone interview. "Plaintiffs want virtually no control on the development or the densities or anything else. They want to build want they want to build and that's it." Named as defendants in the lawsuit are past and present Summit County commissioners, who were elected to enact zoning ordinances for the community, he added. "What these [plaintiffs] are really trying to do is substitute the judicial process and a court's decision for a decision that the voters of Summit County have already made at the polls," Hunt said. "They refused to file an application like everybody else does and pursue their development through the process ... it's bullying." So-called incentive zoning was enacted in Snyderville in the late 1990s, when the Summit County Commission passed its controversial 'matrix' development standards. Those rules allowed developers to build a maximum of 2.5 units per acre on their property in exchange for 'community benefits.' The matrix was replaced in 2004 with the current development code, which allows for a maximum of one unit per 10 acres in the Snyderville Basin. "That process took so long that it spanned at least two and maybe three County Commission elections. The voters had the ability and the opportunity to elect commissioners who supported their Please see Racketeering, A-2 Affordable-housing resolution wins 'Yea' vote New guidelines encourage developers to build units instead of paying a fee By ANNA BLOOM Of the Record staff The Park City Council Thursday adopted a more comprehensive version of its affordable housing guidelines, written by Phyllis Robinson, who directs the city's affordable housing program. Robinson says the new language "spells out the specifics" about how to implement the guidelines, plays up the need for affordable home ownership and noticeably plays down a developers choice to make payments in lieu of building their affordable-housing requirement. "There were a lot of points that needed to be cleaned up and the new guidelines do a good job of that, but I think the best part of the resolution is it de-emphasizes the 'in lieu of fees, which, traditionally, most developers opt for," said Mountainlands Community Housing Trust Executive Director Scott Loomis, who attended the meeting. In the guidelines approved by the City Council this week, Robinson notes the 'in lieu of payment per affordable unit built was raised from less than $60,000 per unit, to $86,616, to account for the rise in real estate prices and the administrative fee involved. If paid early, the developer will pay the current price; if paid at a later date, the fees will be adjusted biennially to account for the rising cost of real estate. The affordable housing resolution is the result of several discussions beginning last December. The original guidelines were first adopted by the city in 1990, with the last significant revision to the standards adopted in GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD 1999, according to Robinson. Phyllis Robinson, who directs City Hall's housing program, addressed Mayor Dana Serving Summit County since 1880 The new 'in lieu of payments are based on adjusted calculations for the Williams and the Park City Council on Thursday as the elected officials adopted a www. par krecord.com current median income earnings for Summit County households. Using more detailed version of the city's affordable-housing guidelines. Please see Housing, A-2 Park Record. S34937 00001 • Machines draw sparse but vocal crowd for key test Keeping the faith By MATT JAMES Please see Recycle, A-2 - ^ B ^ ^ ^ Serving Summit County since Nonprofit plans slate of green events and activities Of the Record staff Earth Day is still a week away, but Recycle Utah is already preparing for the holiday with a collection of activities and events. The organization's Earth Day celebration will kick off with an event at Wild Oats in Redstone Towne Center Wednesday, April 19 from 5:30-7 p.m. "I'm going to be there with a few I.B. (International Baccalaureate) students from the middle school, and I'm going to be there to talk about composting and what we recycle," said Insa Riepen, Recycle Utah's executive director. The event is free and open to the public and will offer a preview of Recycle Utah's Earth Day Festival, which will run Saturday morning from 7-9 a.m. That event, which will take place at the Recycle Utah facility on Woodbine Way, will include free coffee and bagels, along with a chance to drop off recyclables and learn about Recycle Utah's mission. The rest of the day, weather permitting, the organization will have tables set up to educate the public about wind power, recycling and composting. "That's the Earth Day thing to do this year," Riepen said. "Start composting." That alone, she noted, can eliminate 25 percent of a family's household refuse, turning it into a valuable addition to a yard or garden. "It's easily done." concluded Riepen. "We're going to continue to promote it." For the rest of the month, the organization will also be running a special promotion in conjunction with Get the Mercury Out, a program organized by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. Through April 30. Summit County residents can turn in their old mercury thermometers and receive new digital models. "We want to take them out of circulation completely," Riepen said, about the mercury thermometers. She said the program would be the first of its kind at Recycle Utah. Mercury, a toxic, liquid metal, is easily spread and ingested and can lead to serious health problems, including nervous system damage and liver problems. Recycle Utah accepts mercury-containing products at all times of the year. However, while the organization normally has to pay to properly dispose of the mercury-contaminated objects, during April, that disposal is free. That allowed the organization to offer the thermometer recycling program. "People don't usually do anything unless they get something," Riepen said. "So since I have a way to get rid of the mercury for free, we decided to do this." And while that program will end with April, Recycle Utah will continue to provide programs through May, including the regular, semiannual Hazardous Materials Collection May 6 in the parking lot of The Canyons Resort and a pair of special movie screenings Thursday, May 18 at the Jim Santy Auditorium. Two films, "Kilowatt Ours" and "Nobelity" will screen, starting at 7 p.m. Riepen said she wanted to have the screenings, which are presented in conjunction with the Park City Film Series, in April, around Earth Day, but the auditorium was too busy. So, she said, Recycle Utah decided to wait until May. The organization regularly uses "Kilowatt Ours," a film that details the processes used to generate electricity, but this will be the film's first major public showing. "Nobelity," which will screen second, is new to the Park City / o m e d i a n Paula Poundstone wiU visit the Eccles V_xCenter for a Park City Performing Arts Foundation show at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Tickets range from $15-$50. To purchase tickets or for more information, cali 655-3114 or visit www.eccIescenter.OTg. \ |