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Show LJ Sr iSjr X -J-J sL CZPw ' kL 'JL-L Ifflflf jflSjffi JJL il 250 Vol. VIII, No. 21 Thursday, February 10, 1983 Three Sections, 36 Pages Theft spree prompts police waraimigs byJeffHowrey "When I was growing up around here," says Park City police detective Lloyd Evans, "we never used to lock our doors. But that's all changed now. We've entered a new era in Park City crime. The opportunities are here for burglars and the potential goods to be stolen here offer quite a temptation. Times are hard, too. With this much unemployment, more and more people turn to crime." But it's not just the laid off worker who might turn to petty crime that Park City police are worried about. The problem right now with the town in an abnormally high period of burglary activity goes deeper. There's even been talk of "professional "profes-sional thieves" with sophisticated techniques being responsible for the recent glut of car and condo burglaries. burglar-ies. "The criminals who have been responsible for several of the recent robberies in town are not kids," says Evans. "They seem to be people who know exactly what they're doing." Evans points to a three-day spree of car burglaries around town late in January as the most compelling evidence that professional criminals might be behind some of the local heists. "On Jan. 26, 27 and 28 we had an unusually high concentration of car burglaries in Park City," Evans says. "The techniques for entry which often included a lock punch were too sophisticated to make it seem likely that local kids were, behind the break-ins. "Besides, what was taken from the cars gives a clue as to who might be committing the crimes. For instance, car stereos are one of the first things kids will take. But the people behind the late January break-ins had no interest in stereos they're too hard to fence and you don't get enough money back." Evans thinks ("I'm 90 percent sure") that the burglars behind the late January spree might have been part of a ring of crooks who are reportedly traveling from resort area to resort area and doing the same sort of dirty work coast to coast. "We had reports from other police jurisdictions of a team of car thieves traveling in a car with Massachusetts plates. The car was spotted in our general area although never in Park City at about the same time the rash of car break-ins occured," says Evans who adds that if the crime ring were in town at one time, it seems a safe bet that they've since moved on. "We haven't had any car break-ins since Celebrity Classic schedule Here is the updated schedule of events for this week's U.S. Ski Team Celebrity Classic, to be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Park City Thursday, February 10 8:00a.m. Breakfast: At the Rusty Nail, Park City Ski Area Plaza 10:00 a.m. Opening Ceremonies : At the Park City Ski Area ice rink 11:00a.m. RaceClinics: Claimjumper Run, celebrity teams 1:00 p.m. Lunch on the mountain 2:00p.m. TimedRuns: Claimjumper Run, for race participants, prizes awarded 7:00 p.m. Welcome Party: At the Rusty Nail, Park City Ski Area Plaza. Dinner, dancing, entertainment, fireworks, torchlight parade, laser show. Casual dress. Friday, February II 8:00a.m. Breakfast: At the Rusty Nail, Park City Ski Area Plaza 10:00 a.m. Celebrity Team Race: First Round, Claimjumper Run 11:30a.m. Grudge Matches: Claimjumper Run 12:30 p.m. Lunch on the mountain 1 : 30 p.m. Celebrity Team Race : Second Round, Claimjumper Run 2 : 30 p.m. Grudge Matches : Claimjumper Run 7:00 p.m. An Evening at Deer Valley: At the Snow Park Lodge, Deer Valley. Buffet dinner, celebrity entertainment, exhibitions, race films, video highlights Saturday, February 12 8:00 a.m. Breakfast: At the Rusty Nail, Park City Ski Area plaza 10 : 30 a m. Celebrity Team Race : Semi-finals, Claimjumper Run 11:30a.m. Grudge Matches: Claimjumper Run 12:00 p.m. Lunch on the mountain 1:30 p.m. Celebrity Team Race: Finals, Claimjumper Run 2:30 p.m. Grudge Matches : Claimjumper Run 7:00 p.m. Black Tie and Blue Jean Dinner: At the Yarrow. Park City. Cocktails, awards, entertainment. Dress -Men: black tie and blue jeans; Women: black tie and blue jeans or evening dn-s- then with exactly the same modus operandi (M.O.). Besides, that sort of criminal ring is smart enough not to push its luck too far. They'll generally hit a town for two or three days and then leave." Despite the apparent absence of the professional thieves who may or may not have been through town a few days ago, Park City is still being plagued by a rash of car vandalisms. But it's not only car break-ins which are contributing to the recent glut of crime locally. Condominiums are also being entered at an alarming rate. "In terms of residence burglaries, we're finding more and more concentration concen-tration on condos instead of homes," says Evans. "For one thing, there's less of a chance for a burglar to be confronted by someone in a condo there's a much better chance that a condo resident, especially tourists, will be out on the ski slopes or to dinner or somewhere else when a burglar tries to gain entry. "And it's important to realize that a burglar is in the business for the property he can steal. He doesn't want to confront anybody. If you confront your victim in the midst of a burglary, it suddenly turns into a robbery and the criminal is facing potentially much more severe trouble should he be apprehended. There's much less of a chance of being confronted in a condo. Which is good, because these burglars can be desperate. Although we've yet to have any physical violence related to these incidents, people should be careful." v Evans points out several precautions people can take to discourage prospective prospec-tive thieves. "Be careful and cautious. Lock your door even when your inside," he says. "These burglars are getting more and more aggressive. We expect that some of them might even be going from door to door at these condos. If they knock and find somebody home, they just act like they're looking for a friend but have the wrong address. They just keep going until they find a place that's unoccupied then go right on in and take what they want. "People should take all kinds of extra precautions," Evans continues. "They should secure all their doors and windows as best as possible. Most burglaries are crimes of opportunity. If you don't give these guys a chance to get at your possessions, they probably won't be able to steal from you." Evans notes that Park City is ripe for the picking for the criminally minded. "In the winter, Park City is full of Theft to A3 A y rv ;,w. Mush, you critters Court decision 4MM - - City's design authority Park City was left with the job of revising its codes on architectural review after a developer took the city's language to court and beat it. Domcoi Incorporated, a building firm of Santa Monica, made a court appeal after the city rejected its proposed building at 1402 Empire on architectural grounds. On Monday, Judge Dean Fredericks of the Third District State Court in Coalville overturned the city's action. Fredericks ruled the city's Land Management Code doesn't properly specify what projects are subject to review. He also said the city should give more specific design guidelines. The 12-unit Empire project, designed for the RC zone by architect Dick House Bill 13 Sales tax by David Hampshire It was easy to see that this wasn't your average piece of legislation. Although it was only 8 a.m., the committee com-mittee room on the third floor of the state capitol was overflowing. Latecomers hovered in the hallway, trying to catch snatches of the debate. Among the observers were the mayors of Utah's three largest cities: Ted Wilson of Salt Lake City, Steve Dirks of Ogden, Jim Ferguson of Provo. Park City was also well represented by Mayor Jack Green and Councilwoman Helen Alvarez. The focus of all the attention was House Bill (HB) 13, an attempt to revise the distribution of Utah's local option sales tax. It was scheduled for discussion Friday by the House Committee Com-mittee on Revenue and Taxation. Of the sales tax now collected by the state, 34 of one percent, the so-called local option, is returned to those communities com-munities where the tax was generated (the point of sale). From this source, Park City collects about $650,000 a year. While this is welcome revenue for towns like Park City which have well-developed well-developed retail sales districts, it is a source of irritation for soalled bedroom communities such as Sandy which have large populations but few retail outlets. They contend that the local option sales tax should be distributed by population, not by point 1M " Gary Jacobsen of Milad, Idaho guided his sled dogs to a first place and two seconds at Wasatch Mountain State park this weekend. See story by Nan Chalat, page Cl. Kohler, was denied at the Planning Commission meeting of Dec. 1, after City Planner Bill Ligety said the project's architecture was incompatible incom-patible with the surrounding area. While the ordinance in the RC zone gives architectural review power to the city, Kohler argued that the basic ordinance on review (2.7) only covers conditional uses. His project, he pointed out, was a permitted use. "The review power was set up when virtually everything you did was conditional," Ligety told the Park City Newspaper. Following an opinion from the city attorney, the planning commission voted against Kohler. City Council also turned down his appeal at its Jan. 20 plan struggles past committee of sale, so they get a bigger share of the pie. For Park City, with a tiny resident population (about 3,000), this would be disastrous, according to local officials. They estimate the town's sales tax revenue would drop to about $38,000 a year. But they can also see the writing on the wall. Attempts to distribute at least a part of the sales tax revenue by population have been getting more and more sympathy from the legislature. So, when Salt Lake legislator G. LaMont Richards came up with a compromise they could live with, they fell in line behind it. As discussed in the Park City Newspaper of Jan. 27, Richards has called for a gradual change in the distribution formula so that, by 1988, the local option tax would be distributed 50 percent by population and 50 percent by point of sale. Richards plan, HB 13, includes a "hold harmless" clause, which guarantees that no community will receive less revenue than it does now. However, to raise enough money to make that clause work, the local option sales tax statewide would have to be raised from s4 to one percent. It was this proposed tax hike which caused several legislators to vote against HB 13 when it came up in the Revenue and Taxation Committee Jan. 19. By a 9-8 vote they voted not to mi' meeting. Domcoi's attorney, Jerry Kinghorn, then took the matter to court. "This was a very non-hostile appeal," stressed Kohler. "We didn't try to sink anybody or sue for damages." Judge Fredericks ruled that the city does not make it clear its review power is meant for both conditional and permitted uses. He also said that, for each zone, the city must give sufficient information to developers about what kind of design is permissible. Said Kohler, "You will end up with something like the Deer Valley Design Guidelines. Everything is moving in that direction anyway." City Attorney Tom Clyde said, "We will do something like the Historic report the bill out of committee. One of those no votes came from Representative Represen-tative Glen Brown, whose district includes in-cludes Summit County. "I just question whether it was the right time to impose a sales tax increase in-crease on the people," Brown said after af-ter that vote. Since then, HB 13 has undergone some changes. Under the old version, the proposed l 4 percent increase would have been mandated by the state. Under Un-der the new version, individual communities com-munities would have the choice whether to impose the additional 4 percent, at least in theory. In practice, if they refused to approve the increase, they would be penalized. "There's a local option, but there's a sledgehammer in there if you don't play the game," Brown said. The changes to the bill were enough to win the support of one more committee commit-tee member, Lloyd Frandsen of Salt Lake City. When it came up again for a vote at Friday's packed committee meeting, it was passed out favorably, by a 9-8 margin to the floor of the House. Although Brown again voted against the bill, he sees a way to make it more palatable He is preparing an amendment amend-ment calling for cities who make more money off the sales tax increase in the first year to reduce their mill levy to compensate "I'm at'empting to wash away the Cri x.M. rebuked District Guidelines, but not to that detail." Even without the court decision, the city's codes were apparently due for some work. For instance, the City Council rejected the Empire project by citing a section 5.11, which calls for architectural review on all permitted uses. "Under that, we'd review everything from a doghouse to a hotel," said Clyde. "The city never intended to review single-family dwellings." While the city reshapes its language, is there a danger that some architectural architec-tural monstrosity will slip by the review process? No, said Clyde. Major projects are conditional uses which clearly, can be reviewed. tax increase the first year," he said. "After the first year, the cities and counties can paddle their own canoe. If they want more revenue, they've got to raise the mill levy to do it." In its present form, Brown said, HB 13 could go either way in the House. "I'd say if it were to come up tomorrow, it would hang by one or two votes." Another bill of interest to Park City officials is HB 185, which would allow resort communities to raise their own sales tax by up to one percent. Brown, the sponsor of this legislation, said a major stumbling block is the amount of money required to administer the bill. According to an estimate provided by the State Tax Commission, it would cost the state $36,000 the first year in addition paperwork. As a general rule, he said, any bill which costs more than $10,000 to administer never gets out to committee. com-mittee. "Until I get that fiscal note changed, I'm shot," he said. Brown said he plans to change the language in the bill so that the administration ad-ministration costs would be paid not by the state but by those resort communities com-munities which want the one percent increase. He predicted that it would be at least a week before the Resort Communities bill was discussed by the Revenue and Tnxstion Committee. '""JV |