OCR Text |
Show VIEWPOINTS A -13 THE PARK RECORD WED/THURS/FRI, JUNE 25-27, 200C www.parkrecord.com EDITORIAL I M . P E T O SILL COLU£tCBS. • • Officers: The harder we play, the harder they work t was a typical summer weekend in Summit County. Friday night, Park City's Main Street was closed to traffic in order to make room for a giant outdoor dinner party. Then on Saturday morning, cyclists cranked their way up the Mirror Lake Highway in an annual endurance ride from Kamas to Evanston. In the meantime, on another state thoroughfare, runners were jogging along the highway as part of a massive all-day and all-night relay Mixed in with all of the racers were loads of sportsmen hauling boats, horse trailers, mountain bikes and ATVs to nearby lakes and trailheads. Next weekend, mountain bikers will converge on Deer Valley for a national competition. Mountain Town Stages will begin hosting its outdoor concerts and of course, throngs will gather at the Sunday Silly Market on lower Main Street. Then throughout the Fourth of July holiday, there will be parades, rodeos, running races and concerts. The merriment is expected to continue through Labor Day. But while most of the county is at play, a large contingent of law enforcement and public safety officers will be working overtime to make I sure everyone gets home safely. Special events are a Summit County specialty, but each one creates logistical challenges for police, sheriff and highway patrol officers - especially events that require road closures. The motorcycle-mounted Utah Highway Patrolmen who manned the rolling closure over the Uinta mountains Saturday, as well as the sheriff's deputies who patiently spotted for the bikers and runners long after the sun went down, deserve a hearty round of thanks. Unfortunately, most of the feedback uniformed officers receive from overheated, impatient drivers consists of scowls and growls. But, on those occasions when the fun suddenly turns into an emergency, there is no way to fully express our gratitude for their efforts. If you participate in a race this summer, or find yourself in a traffic jam while trying to get a prime parking space at a concert, take a moment to thank the law enforcement officials who are likely working extra shifts so you can enjoy summer to the J fullest. m WEU.0U5I m 5O0OT PKE5TOEHT BJ5U577U H5Ek LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Historic turnout for Historic Home Tour Editor: A hearty thank you to everyone who supported this year's Historic Home Tour. Fifteen historic homes were opened to the public on June 14 during our 12th Annual Historic Home Tour - and the event proved more popular than ever! We would like to thank our extraordinary sponsors. The success of this event is the result of their generous support. A special thanks to our presenting sponsor Wells Fargo, to Summit Sotheby,s International, Jones Waldo, the Washington School Inn, and Zoom Restaurant, our reception sponsors, and to all the locals and businesses that sponsored each historic house. A special thank you to everyone who gave so generously of their time and talents to make this year's tour and history weekend memorable: Park City's finest chefs, the homeowners who generously opened their homes both on Friday night and Saturday, our more than 60 volunteers who helped the event go smoothly, local businesses that supported the silent auction.andthpse. whp, att$ncierQ1.a .dinner, or walked the tour (you know who you are). The Park City Historical Society & Museum is dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting Park City's history and heritage. Thanks for a successful event that will help us reach our goals! If you would like to learn more about the Park City Museum, our renovation and expansion, and how you can help, please contact us at (435) 649-7457. Cindy Matsumoto, event chair Sandra Morrison, executive director Park City Historical Society & Museum Family of Justin Bailey offers thanks Editor: Our family would like to offer thanks to all the people who came to our son's assistance earlier this week, and brought him back safely to our home. Our gratitude is beyond measure for the intrepid efforts of our sheriff, his deputies, the k9 units and search-and-rescue teams that undauntedly searched f\rr him day and night. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to your press and the other media that made his safe return possible. Additionally, we would like to offer generous thanks to the hospital staff, churches, and all the area residents who came to offer support and comfort to our family in our time of need. A very special thanks to Mr. Jason Woolstenhulme who, by our estimation, is truly a hero for his awareness, and without hesitation, becoming involved when he discovered Justin. Thank you, everyone for your prayers. We feel privileged to live in such an awesome community as this. Ray and Jennifer Bailey Kamas up miner's shacks and building multistory car parks underneath them. A little truth on the actual impacts of traffic and car parking in town might go a long way in explaining some of our current concerns and better yet, potential solutions. Perhaps you should be asking why, after eight months of HPB deliberations; following the previous eight months of work sessions with the City Council and Planning Commission, no forum for public discussion on this topic has been considered by the City administration. That would be contrary to the advice given by the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Preservation Planning. But then, as long as we are ignoring the professionals, who cares? Peter Barnes Peoa Don't let truth get in the way of a good story Savor the Summit: Let's do it again Editor I was puzzled by your editorial on Saturday which called for greater citizen participation in the proposed Historic District Design Guidelines while at the same time you insulted those people who •did attend the HPB meeting. While you deride those with professional training, technical knowledge and personal experience of development in Old Town I can't help but wonder if you carry your faith in the enthusiasm of amateurs to other areas of your life such as health care or journalism. Rather than insult one group of interested citizens and appeal to another, I thought you might like to educate yourself and subsequently the citizenry at large as to the contents of the proposed guidelines. For instance one clause would require the footprint of a home developed on a standard Old Town lot to be smaller than a single car garage at the same time as requiring half the area of the lot to be paved in concrete. Clearly not what was intended. Presumably your enthusiastic amateur journalist(s) knew that, they just chose not to report it. In the same way perhaps that your reporter chose not to mention that the greatest objection to the proposals raised by the people who attended the meeting was the lack of meaningful citizen input. I know it is more fun in journalistic circles never to let the truth get in the way of a good story but I had hoped that you could use the resource of print media to reveal the facts behind Blair Fulminator's radio claims that homeowners are jacking Editor: As a Park City old town resident and the manager of the Washington School Inn, I would like to thanJc the Park City Restaujaat ,.Association,, and theJLEa^k-j City Jazz Foundation.for putting on the spectacular inaugural event, Savor The Summit. While strolling Main Street Friday night during the Grande Table event, the locals' consensus was the same: "Why don't we do this every summer weekend? And the overnight guests at the Inn loved it just as much - they all want to come back for it next year! Congratulations to those that facilitated and participated in such a successful launch of Savor the Summit! I'll be sure to buy my tickets early for next year. Jean Carlan Park City Preservation, development go hand in hand Editor: I am a commissioner of the Summit County Preservation Commission since 1999; a member of the Historic District Design Forum from 1995 to 1997 and a former commissioner of the Park City Historical District Commission from 1982 to 1986 which wrote the bulk of cur- rent guidelines. I have been a member of the Park City Historical Society since its inception. I am a "preservation advocate." I am also a designer, builder and developer working in the Historical District for more than thirty years. I work for and am an agent for the residents of Old Town. Your misinformed editorial of June 21-24, 2008, served only to be divisive, pitting residents and developers against one another when the only issue is common cause. It is insulting to many who have worked very hard to preserve and maintain, not destroy. Restrictions are welcome that are fair to everyone; restrictions that make sense, that my clients and I can understand, and that maintain the historical ambiance that is Park City. It is its small town urban feel and scale that keeps people living here and draws newcomers. Why would one want to destroy it? We have no interest in "chipping away at the rules needed to protect what is left of Park City's heritage." It is in our interest to strengthen and clarify those rules! The proposed rewrite to the Guidelines does not do that. We now prefer bathrooms inside to outhouses; it is also hard to build or remodel a home that does not have a -gasage-and parking.-Tlm-n.eg memorializes outhouses and ban j You accuse my industry of being "profit motivated," having "financial interests" and being "materialistic." It is the home seller who sells his house by the square footage. If I had a financial interest in a resident's home, I would not be hired. Preservation and development are not mutually exclusive; in fact they go hand in hand. Park City as a historical district could not have survived without development. It was a fallen down ghost town; now it is one of the most sought-after communities in the country. I do not believe there are two sides to this debate. The issue is how to best preserve the character of Old Town and to maximize its livability. Your uninformed editorial leads to an "us and them" mentality; this is wrong headed. We have common cause. Touched by kindness of community Editor: The death of our wife, mother, grandmother, sister and daughter Saundra Stephens Toole was devastating and ver> emotional for our family. The loving and joyous memories of her will sustain us in the days to come and we are finding healing in God's tender embrace and ii] knowing others remembered and cared. We sincerely thank those in the com-j munity for your kind expressions of sympathy; cards, letters, phone calls, flowers, food, donations to the scholarship fund, and many more gestures. Most of all, foi keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We have come to believe through thid experience that there can be solace, thai all things are possible, that life is precious, that peace is reasonable, thai laughter is special, that blessings are divine and most of all that love is grand. We have all been touched by youi kindnesses, The immediate and extended familie Saundra and Doug Toole ; POLICY The Park Record welcomes letter* co the editor on i subject.We ask that the letters adhere to the fblloWffl guiddlnesThey must Include the address and telephone number of the author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. Letters must not contain libekxis material Letters should be no longer than 300 words (550 words for guest editorials) and should, if possible, be lypedWe reserve the right to edit letters If they are . too long of If they contain statements that are unnecessarily offensive or obscene. Writers are limited to one letter every 28 days. Letters thanking event sponsors can list no more than six individuals and/or businesses. Send your letter to: edltor@parkrecord.com The Park Record Staff Paul de GTOot Park City GUEST EDITORIALS •. When choosing a house, think past a lifetime By Alan Kesselheim Writers on the Range We've had some minor flooding lately in the Gallatin Valley in southwestern Montana, the consequence of a good mountain snowpack and a two-day heat wave, followed by a big rain. It reminded everyone of the way things used to work. Some local landowners, however, were "shocked," I read in the paper. "I've lived here 12 years and I've never seen anything like this!" one said. I could almost hear the Itold-you-so in the hydrologist's quote later in the same story. "This was no 100-year flood," he said. "This wasn't even a 20year flood. If they think this was a big deal, they have a surprise coming." Sure, that landowner has been in the floodplain 12 years and everything has been hunky-dory. But in that same 12 years, a lot of neighbors have moved in, built on the floodplain and on other floodplains. The subdivision reviews echo each other. Map-wielding experts minimize environmen- tal dangers and tout design of that magnitude. Our prece- accustomed to measuring. strategies. Hydrologists rou- dent, it turns out, covered fires The same thing happens tinely warn of flood potential that peak on roughly a 20-year with people who build their and groundwater depletion. cycle. Turner's research sug- homes on the bank of a river, or Mostly, money talks. gests that in the Northern on a low-lying flood plain. It Construction and real estate Rockies there is a 150-year looks fine at the moment, have been huge economic cycle at work that burns mil- beautiful views, a river coursengines around here. The lions of acres at a whack. ing past. What could go wrong? developments go in, people \ "Back in '88, people were A river is no more static build on the floodplain. Then, busy blaming excess fuels and a than a lightning-strike wildfire. when the inevitable happens, let-burn policy in the park," It migrates back and forth they are shocked. remembers Turner. "What across the valley, chewing away "People have a really diffi- we've found suggests that it has at the banks. From an aerial cult time managing for cycles nothing to do with that. It's the photograph, the river "corrithat occur at a rate longer than climate." dor," as opposed to its current a human lifetime," says Monica Early snowmelt, combined channel, reveals bank erosion, Turner, professor of Wildland with prolonged drought, high major flooding, channel shiftEcology at the University of temperatures, strong winds and ing - all effects that are "when" Wisconsin. propositions, not "if." Turner specializes We might get in natural disturIn the case of the '88 Yellowstone lucky. One hundred bances, which include years could pass withphenomena like flood- fires, people used the word 'unprece- out much drama. Then ing and wildfire. Much dented' in every other paragraph again, somebody's of her career has been turn could come next spent analyzing a real- though, according to Turner the only spring, and again the ly big natural distur- thing unprecedented was our experi- spring after that. It's a bance - the 1988 fires little bit like trusting in Yellowstone - where ence with fires of that magnitude." your retirement savshe did her early fieldings to the luck of the work. casino. In the case of the Tom Olliff, who was a "sea'88 Yellowstone fires, people late fall precipitation, produce sonal park grunt" during the used the word "unprecedent- the conditions ripe for a wild- '88 fires, and who now occupies ed" in every other paragraph fire of the 1988 variety. A the post of chief researcher at though, according to Turner whopper. And there is nothing Yellowstone National Park, the only thing unprecedented unprecedented about it. It's thinks Turner is right about our was our experience with fires just a longer pulse than we're limited ability to understand change at a landscape level. "I think it comes down to the length of a career," he said. "I've had a long career at Yellowstone, 30 years or more. I feel like I've learned a lot, about fire in particular, over those decades. Sure, there are some things I'll pass on in the way of knowledge, but a lot of it will go away when I do, and the management wisdom clock will start new." As for me, I paddle a lot of these local streams. I look at these river-hugging developments from water-level perspective. I find myself wishing for a little natural reckoning. I won't go so far as wishing a 100-year gully-washer on anyone, but an occasional wake-up call for floodplain residents, like the one that just pulsed through town, seems entirely appropriate. And you know what? Let them be shocked. Maybe they'll think farther down the road on the next go-round. Alan Kesselheim is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He is the author of nine books in Bozeman, Mont. PUBLISHER Andy Bemhard Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Pat Parkinson Joe Lair Adia Waldburger Greg Marshall Jason Strykowski . Contributing writers Tom Clyde Ten Orr Jay Meehan Joan Jacob son Larry Warren . • Steve Phillips Editor's assistant Kristina Eastham Copy editor David Hampshire Special sections editor Amanda Stofko ADVERTISING Classified advertising Bridget Morgan Cristin Hicks Office manager Kandllee Snyder Circulation manager Lacy Brundy Accounting manager Kristi Ruppert Advertising director Valerie Deming Advertising sales Wendy Halliday Kimberly Gallagher Lori Gull Steve Aldous Jennifer Musial Arwa Jundi Erin Donnelly Advertising Assistant Nikki Norton Editorial production Photographers Scott Sine Production director Matt Gordon Production Scott Schlenker Ann Marie Kloogh Sara Ely Pat Hamaker Amy Barrus PRESS ROOM General Manager Head Pressman Pressman Pre-press Controller >-; -;•% Office Staff Bill Olsen Don Femey Jimmy Elkins Mike Hall Valerie Waite Sandy Trost Ethel Bradford • Mail Room Marilyn Case Ray Scoggins Distribution Matt Conrad , |