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Show rTmrto rn ,(B "r - r i 1 1 Volume 1 1 1, No. 433 Sections, 46 pages Thursday, November 29, 1990 -Hrfefe- Cocaine confiscated in arrests Five kilos of cocaine valued at $130,000 were confiscated in a tri-agency arrest of four men during mid-October, including in-cluding one recent Park City resident, according to Park City Police Detective Pat Pirraglio. Pir-raglio. He declined to name the local individual, but said the man had resided in Park City for a five-month period. Three Park City Police officers of-ficers worked with state strike force and Drug Enforcement Agency members for three months to put a cap on the alleged drug pipeline which extended from California to Park City. Pirraglio says the amount of drugs confiscated in this takedown take-down is "minute, very small" in relation to the amount of drugs he believes are brought into Park City, overall. A DEA tipof f led to the eventual even-tual involvement of state and local officials, Pirraglio said. The three arrests took place Oct 16, along the interstate highway north of St. George, Utah. The Park City man was arrested during a final undercover under-cover operation in Salt Lake City when he allegedly attempted at-tempted to pick up the cocaine he had been expecting from the three arriving from California. All four men face charges in a Salt Lake City Court. Bill could ze ski A member of the Utah - Senate is sponsoring a bill for the upcoming legislative session ses-sion that seeks to repeal funding fun-ding that allows for $1 in state money to be offered for every $3 resort investment in new ; lifts or other resort equipment between 1989 through 1992. That legislation is among several other bills and resolutions resolu-tions that have been pre-filed this week for introduction at the session which begins Jan. 14. Sen. Omar Bunnel, D-Price, is sponsoring the bill which ; would repeal action taken during dur-ing the 1989 legislative session called the Ski Resorts Capital Investment Incentive Act. The initial $1 million to carry out the intent wasn't provided until un-til the 1990 legislative session. A recent Utah Tax Commission Commis-sion report to an interim legislative committee indicated in-dicated that four of the state's 14 ski resorts, including Park City, had already been approved ap-proved to claim about half the $1 million. The other resorts - include Brianhead, Solitude andAlta. The $1 million is divided between bet-ween the ski resorts in proportion propor-tion to sales tax collected from ski lift tickets. Of the Utah resorts, four are eligible to receive about three-fourths of the total incentive fund, as follows: Park City, $263,541; Snowbird, $176,340; Alta, $148,394; and Deer Valley, $145,937. Commission to discus Town Lift project Dec. 5 The Park City Planning Commission has scheduled a work session Dec. 5 at the Kimball Art Center to discuss the proposed Town Lift project. pro-ject. Members of the Park City Council will be present, and all interested persons are invited to attend. Project consultant Eldon Beck will present preliminary plans for the project. opardi subsidy City ClybAIamo settle out of by SENA TAYLOR . Record staff writer Park City Municipal Corporation has reached an out-of-court settlement settle-ment with the owners of The Club and Alamo to answer a notice of claim filed by the bars seeking compensation com-pensation for attorneys fees incurred incur-red over several years of court ac Flags on An international parade City Ski Area Nov. 23 to 25. Smith's announces Store wars for Park City? by SENA TAYLOR Record staff writer Smith's Food & Drug Centers this week released plans to build a 70,000-square-foot. super market near the intersection of Park Avenue and Kearns Boulevard by late 1992, but store officials have not made a formal application with the city, and don't have any guarantee their project pro-ject will be approved. Smith's announcement came Just days after Associated Food Stores filed an application with the Park City Ci-ty Planning Department to build an independent grocery store within a proposed new shopping plaza on Kearns Boulevard across from the high school. According to Steve Miner of Associated Food Stores, Smith's announcement an-nouncement is a "scare tactic" to block Associated Food Stores' plans. "Smith's has used the media in the past for trying to force independent grocers out," said Miner. "It doesn't inhibit us at all. We are moving forward for-ward with our project." Hearing on highway to be held Thursday The Utah Department of , Transportation will conduct a public hearing Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Park City Council Chambers to take comments on the proposed realignment realign-ment and reconstruction of State Road 224 from Silver Springs Drive to the junction of S.R. 248 in Park City. Ci-ty. UDOT has proposed to expand the highway to four lanes, and has addressed ad-dressed the project in an Environmental En-vironmental Assessment. This project is the final segment of a larger project which begins at Kimball Junction and traverses S.R. 224 through Snyderville to Park City. Two segments have been completed: com-pleted: from Kimball Junction to Silver Springs Drive, and from S.R. 248 south into Park City. The proposed propos-ed project will connect the two completed com-pleted sections, and will necessitate the acquisition of additional rights-of-way. UDOT will present information at tions. The legal actions began with a 1988 administrative hearing held by the city to determine if the bars' Joint . business, liquor and beer licenses should be revoked. The city did not revoke the licenses granted to Liquid Li-quid Assets Inc., the parent company com-pany of The Club and Alamo, but the City Council found that ue bars WW t A 1 - U parade... of flags is part of the half-time ceremonies at the three-day pro cup races at Park See more about America's Opening results in Sports, Bl. Jeff Smith, chairman of Smith's Food & Drug Centers, said in a press release, "The Park City area, Summit Sum-mit County and the Heber area are in a tremendous growth and progress pro-gress mode and we are anxious to open a store which will serve the needs of the residents of those markets and look forward to being a part of the Park City community." Smith said the new store would be built at a projected cost of $6 million. He said it will be located in the old Snow Creek project; and will be a development of Mariah Properties, Ltd. Smith was asked by the Record if his company was being presumptuous presump-tuous about plans to build, without having approvals from the city. He responded, "Obviously we have got to' go through the planning and zoning zon-ing requirements, and if our project pro-ject passes, we will build the store. If it doesn't, we won't" Smith said his company has agreed to purchase the land contingent con-tingent upon being awarded a conditional condi-tional use permit by the city for the commercial development. I 'IS? UDOT has plans to widen S.R, the hearing, including a discussion of the location and design alternatives alter-natives considered, and an explanation explana-tion of the relocation assistance program. pro-gram. During the hearing, UDOT will receive verbal andor written testimony regarding the project . Any person or group unable to attend at-tend the public hearing, but wishing to give testimony, may do so by were sites of illegal activity . The owners of Liquid Assets, Terese and Gary Lawton, took offense of-fense at the city's findings, and pursued pur-sued actions to be compensated for the money they spent defending their company. In the recent settlement, City Attorney At-torney Jim Carter said both parties A t ft ,.- ,rt'- - K 4 plans for The Smith's project may have smoother sailing past city planning officials because the Snow Creek parcel is zoned for residential medium development, but it has a commercial overlay zone over the portion of the property adjacent to the city cemetery. According to City Planning Director Nora Seltenrich, Smith's would have to apply for a conditional use permit, the granting of which would be contingent upon site planning, buffering, signage and lighting. The proposed site for Associated Food Stores, however, is zoned residential medium density, and a rezone would be required in order for a commercial project to be built there. The proposed Smith's store would include a pharmacy, one-hour photo finishing, a video rental center, floral shop, Chinese take-out kitchen, kit-chen, dry cleaners, bank, yogurt shop, postal service, money orders and Smith'sTix outlet. Smith said, "We think it's going to be a good opportunity here. We hope to have the store open by the fourth 1ft- i- S8, 224 to four lanes. writing to James E. Johnston, . UDOT Community Involvement Officer, Of-ficer, 4501 South 2700 West Salt Lake City, UT 84119-5998. The Environmental Assessment defines the scope if the pro j ret, alternatives, any potential for environmental en-vironmental impacts, and mitigation mitiga-tion measures to relieve impacts. 4 J ' N I'll '1 "" I I ' agreed not to disclose the amount awarded to Liquid Assets, which was covered by the city's insurance. The city did, however, pay $2,500 deductible costs to the insurance company. Although the settlement creates the appearance that Liquid Assets was appeased by the city, Gary Lawton told the Record he is "ab- JL Alex Wells market quarter of 1992." Seltenrich said officials from Smith's have scheduled a meeting with Park City Mayor Brad Olch Nov. 29 to discuss their plans. The Associated Food Stores application ap-plication will be discussed Dec. 12 at a work session of the Planning Commission. Com-mission. Miner said, "It's clear that Park City can't justify three stores, and it most likely wouldn't justify a 70,000-square-foot store." (The proposed pro-posed Associated Food Store would be 32,000-square-feet in size, enclosed enclos-ed within a 98,000-square-f oot shopping shopp-ing plaza.) "Does Park City want to have another cookie-cut chain store?" Miner asked. "What Smith's is proposing pro-posing is nothing different than they have put anywhere else. And they want to wait to build it until 1992 so the market fits their needs." Associated wants to build their store by next fall, according to Miner, and design it to fit the demographics of the area. "We are not chained down to centralized government," he said. 2f: " 1 " ., r SmTiykr The Environmental Assessment is available for review at UDOT offices and at Park City offices. The Environmental Assessment will be available for public comment until Dec. 21. Comments should be sent to R. James Naegle, UDOT engineer for location and environmental en-vironmental studies, at UDOT offices. 1 r t cour solutely not satisfied" with the settlement, set-tlement, which amounted to less than 10 percent of the costs Liquid Assets paid in legal fees throughout the case. "We were raked over the coals," Lawton said. "We were a victim of the system. I think we deserve to get 100 percent of the attorneys fees we paid. We were innocent and the city ci-ty tried to prove us guilty. That's not the way it's supposed to happen. It's more an ethical thing than anything else, and we got diddley." Park City Mayor Brad Olch told the Record, however, that "we have treated the Lawtons fairly throughout the whole process. We need to get this thing behind us." Carter said the settlement thwarted more serious legal actions which could have been taken by either party. The city could have continued to make a case against the bars, and Liquid Assets could have pursued a higher settlement. The 1988 administrative hearing brought by the city against Liquid Assets ordered the company to show cause why their business licenses should not be revoked. The order was spurred by Assistant Summit County Attorney Terry Christiansen, Chris-tiansen, who urged the City Council in a 1987 letter to review the business license. Christiansen said the high number of drug-related arrests at The Club and Alamo was disproportionate dispropor-tionate to arrests at similar establishments in the city, based on an undercover drug investigation in the city during the winter of 198687. Carter said in December of 1988 that Joe Tesch, former attorney for Liquid Assets, filed the notice of claim to seek attorneys fees from the city. Tesch now holds the post as the state's deputy attorney general, and when he stepped down from the case, attorney Brent Gold of Park City began defending The Club and Alamo. The notice of claim was filed after administrative law Judge Robert Thurman recommended to the Council Coun-cil that the bars' business and liquor licenses shouldn't be revoked. - Although Council members did not revoke the licenses, they differed with the judge's interpretation of city ci-ty ordinances and said there was sufficient evidence to constitute license revocations. When Terese Lawton objected to the Council's claims, Liquid Assets filed an appeal of the Council's order, in an attempt to find that Park City acted improperly. im-properly. "Liquid Assets wanted a court to order that they were entitled to get attorneys fees," said Carter. Liquid Assets argued that the city had acted erroneously after receiving receiv-ing the judge's recommendations. Meanwhile, the notice of claim was sitting idle. Carter subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit which was granted by a 3rd District judge. Liquid Li-quid Assets, not satisfied with the dismissal, then filed an appeal to the Utah Court of Appeals. But the Court of Appeals upheld the original dismissal of the lawsuit." Carter said Liquid Assets then had the opportunity to appeal to the state Supreme Court, but opted not to. When Liquid Assets was unable to receive compensation for alleged damages through the lawsuit, they pressed the city to take action on their notice of claim from 1988. Carter said he kept the city's insurance in-surance carrier up to date on the case over the years, and the insurance in-surance company recommended settling the claim at this time. Although Gary Lawton feels the settlement is inadequate, he said, "We settled because we are tired and we want this behind us. We don't feel it's really settled because we weren't compensated for what we had to pay to defend ourselves, but we felt we had no choice. The city said 'take it or leave it. "' Carter said the city didn't have much authority over how much Liquid Li-quid Assets would be paid. "Our insurance in-surance company authorized the city ci-ty to settle within certain parameters," said Carter. "Once we referred it to the insurance company we were no longer in the driver's seat. The city had limited ability to influence the case." Lawton is fearful that other businesses in town will be vulnerable to what he feels are unjust un-just accusations by the city. "This could happen to any other business in town because of the precedent set here. Business owners have absolutely no way to prevent this. They've got no defense, and there will be incredible amounts of money lost in the process of trying to maintain their innocence until proven pro-ven guilty. We were guilty until proven pro-ven innocent, and we still haven't been proven innocent Where does the responsibility lie here?" he asked. ask-ed. "We went from being the number one bar in the state to not even the number one bar in Park City. Ci-ty. We lost 50 percent tf our business due to bad publicity," l e said. -MV.,,. KMlK Ml i M |