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Show VIEWPOINTS A-21 www.parkrecord.com Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, December 17-20, 2016 EDITORIAL Affordable housing belongs at top of city and county agendas T LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Festival of Trees nurtures Park City thanks to many Parkites Editor: Our community of Park City is a better place because of the many nonprofit organizations that help shape our character. On behalf of those many non-profits, the Park City Rotary Club thanks the community for its support and engagement in our recent Giving Tree Festival. Hundreds of people participated in the two-week Parade of Trees, helping raise nearly $25,000 for 20 local causes. In just the second year of Rotary’s management of the Giving Tree Festival, we saw a huge increase in community awareness of both the Parade of Trees and the causes represented by our local non-profits. Over 200 engaged community members went from local business to business viewing the trees and having their maps stamped. Many more participated in the online auction. The Park City Rotary Club is proud to be a part of our community, with events like Giving Tree Festival, Miners’ Day and others serving as a means of supporting the great place we live. A special thanks to Thea Leonard and Treasure Mountain Inn, The Park Record Staff Katie Perhai and Carolyn Wawra for design and website, Ben Pieper and Point Productions for the wonderful photography and KPCW and the Park Record for the extensive coverage. Thank you Park City for your participation! We look forward to bringing the event back again next holiday season. Look for more information at www.givingtreefestival.org. Robert Holmes President, Park City Rotary Club Diesel buses need to be retired Editor: Man, I must say that Park City is way behind the curve when it comes to diesel vehicles. There are so many diesel busses that go around Deer Valley that you get that diesel fume trail all day long. It is disgusting. Plus that free bus going up and down Main Street is the same thing. I’ve lived here since 1992 and nothing has been done. 25 years. Cities around the world are starting to ban diesel vehicles. Can’t we do something to ban them too? And I mean NOW. Not another 25 years from now! David G. Clark Park City PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Bubba Brown Angelique McNaughton Griffin Adams Contributing writers Tom Clyde Jay Meehan Teri Orr Amy Roberts Steve Phillips Tom Kelly Joe Lair Interns Jessica Curley Emily Billow Copy Editor Frances Moody ADVERTISING Classified advertising Jennifer Lynch Office manager Tiffany Rivera Circulation manager Lacy Brundy Accounting manager Jennifer Snow Advertising director Valerie Spung Advertising sales Lori Gull Jodi Hecker Erin Donnelly Lisa Curley Bill Thomason Photographer Tanzi Propst Production director April Hendrix Production Nadia Dolzhenko Ben Olson Patrick Schulz Before approving more projects, consider long-term impacts Editor: With no disrespect meant to the hard working teams on the Park City and Summit County Planning Commissions, it seems that development in the Western side of the County is going through an ‘approval’ process more than a ‘planning’ process. Without a doubt, Park City is an incredible asset for the community and the county and as such we must be both direct and forward-thinking in our approach to growth. One thing we know is that there are only two roads in and out of the town. There is only so much infrastructure to handle the current load and future development, only so much water, only so many schools, only so much capacity. Starting with that, what do we think Park City will look like in 10 years? In 20 years? In 50 years? If we start there, and work backwards, it would help us to be sure that the “planning” being done now is consistent with where we want our community to be in those out years. Without a real vision for the future, we will let todays’ For the record he people who put the glitz in all of those glitzy headlines about Park City are, to a large extent, the thousands of employees — both year round and seasonal — who work behind the scenes. They are the ones who tune skis overnight, shovel driveways before dawn, brew coffee before the lifts open, groom the slopes, patrol the mountain and mix those cleverly named après ski cocktails. They are the shuttle drivers, lodging managers, housekeepers, valets, prep cooks and dishwashers who have helped to put Park City on a multitude of top-10 lists for skiing, eating, outdoor recreation and small town-ambiance. In short, their mission is to do anything it takes to make a family’s vacation dreams come true. But when those employees head home — often a long, out-of-town commute — there is another driveway to shovel, kids to cook for, laundry to be done. The irony is this: Park City’s great workforce has helped the local tourism industry soar, which has spurred resort expansions and countless new projects, which in turn necessitate more employees. The net effect is a supercharged economy with a dearth of affordable housing. This revelation comes as no surprise for local business owners who are engaged in a constant scramble to keep year-round positions filled and to expand their ranks as sea- sonal business ebbs and flows. The issue has also floated to the top of the agenda for both the Park City and Summit County Councils, where officials are looking for ways to facilitate developments that include affordable housing. The under-construction project known as Park City Heights, located south of the Park City Film Studio is one tangible result of that effort. But many more units are needed to keep pace with the area’s growing appetite for workers. Some say the disparity between low-to-average wage earners and the area’s high end housing market will resolve itself through the natural supply-and-demand process. But it hasn’t. Instead, employers have cast their hiring nets further out of town, which has had disastrous effects on the two main thoroughfares into and out of the city. City and county officials, with strong commitments from the employers who will benefit, must redouble their efforts to facilitate affordable housing including a wide range of offerings from multi-unit apartments for seasonal workers to starter homes for young families and professionals. The quality of Park City’s workforce is dependent on the quality of life we have to offer and housing is arguably the most significant factor in that equation. If we want reliable employees who are vested in the success of the community, we need to ensure they are able to live here. GUEST EDITORIAL Please consider radon before buying a home DAVID C. LUDEMA Park City The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends “that every home be tested to know the radon concentration.” In keeping with this recommendation, the Park City Board of Realtors has a check list for real estate buyers called “Buyers Due Diligence Checklist” that contains 23 items. Item number 18 states that “Park City and Deer Valley area homes and condominiums should be inspected for possible existence of excessive levels of radon gas in the Property.” According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), “Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.” In studies of long-term occupants of homes in the U.S. there is a significantly greater incidence of lung cancer among those living with high levels of radon. Radon 222 is a radioactive gas, occurring worldwide in the soil and is a normal decay byproduct of Uranium 238. In a complicated decay chain, Radon is only one of the byproducts of Uranium 238, which finally ends as stable nonradioactive lead. Radon normally entering the air from the soil is diluted in the atmosphere, with no significant health effects to humans. However, higher concentrations of uranium occur in areas of the Rocky Mountain West. This is important because here radon more often reaches concentrations in homes and may development approval process dictate what that future will look like. And we may not like the result. With so many major projects seeking approvals — Treasure, Woodward, Bonanza and more — it is time to stop, take a serious look at a long-term plan and drive a process that supports that long-term plan. Jim Arnold Park City City and county leaders say thanks for voter support Editor: Thank you, Summit County and Park City voters; Park City Chamber/Bureau; the lodging and realtor Asked at Hugo Coffee become a health risk. Radon is measured in picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommendation that homes exceeding 4 pCi/L be mitigated. Testing may be done by the homeowner with a Radon Test Kit for about $10.00 with results sent to the laboratory address that comes with the kit. I have found this kit to be quite accurate when compared to a digital radon monitor. When needed, radon mitigation may be accomplished in all homes by contractors specializing in this area. Concrete slabs, plastic vapor barriers, carpet, tile floors or paint will not keep this gas from entering the home. Radon 222 gas emits infinitely small alpha particles which consist of two protons and two neutrons allowing it to enter living spaces through all barriers by visible or invisible openings. Since radon gas is heavier than air, it accumulates in the lower levels of homes or crawl spaces and from there is distributed throughout the home. This is possible because as it accumulates in lower levels it is drawn up by a vacuum created in the warmer upper levels. When deciding whether or not to mitigate radon levels in your home and to what level, two important principles should be used by the homeowner: First, the 4 pCi/L limit set by the EPA is an arbitrary number meant to be used as a guide and suggested upper limit. There is no proven safe limit for radiation exposure. Second is the ALARA principle (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) meaning that radon levels should be as low as it is reasonably possible to achieve. associations; and Deer Valley and Park City Mountain! And thank you to all of the other individuals and businesses who mobilized and supported our “Let’s Move” transportation ballot propositions! We are humbled by the trust you have placed in us, and the overwhelming community support for funding transportation and transit improvements in Summit County. This support will bolster our ability to enhance services that better reflect your needs, as well as the needs of our employees and visitors. We must remember that the transportation challenges facing Summit County and Park City are no accident. In most cases, they are the reward of a decades-long effort by community members working to build a robust resort economy, all the while protecting what makes us special—small-town values and an exceptional quality of life. But success brings challenges. And just like it took decades for our success to bloom, it will require an equal amount of time and hard work to mitigate these challenges. Moving forward, we encourage you to continue to engage with us about ways to improve your transit and transportation systems. One way to follow our progress and the allocation of your sales tax dollars is to visit www.LetsGoSummit. com. Working together, we are confident we can keep Summit County and Park City moving in the right direction. Thank you, again, for all of your support. Roger Armstrong Summit County Council Chair Jack Thomas Park City Mayor Photos by Tanzi Propst Who is the toughest person to buy for on your holiday shopping list? Riley Ridd & Kevin Jateff Salt Lake City “My father for sure...the girlfriend’s easy.” – Jateff “My daughter is hard because we have different interests.” – Ridd Jen Meagher Park City “My husband. He’s so picky and is very simple.” David Postula Park City “Grandma because she’s gotten very particular in her old age.” Nancy Wastcoat Garbett & Elisabeth Lentz Richard Szabo Park City Park City “We don’t buy stuff because stuff has nothing “Probably myself haha nah, probably my mum. She has very to do with relationships. We share experiences simple values and doesn’t tell together.” - Garbett anyone what she wants.” “I’ve never approached it that way...if I don’t feel like there’s anything to be given, I don’t give.” - Lentz See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord and instagram.com/parkrecord/ |