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Show A-2 The Park Record The Park Record. Serving Summit County since 1880 The Park Record, Park City’s No. 1 source for local news, opinion and advertising, is available for home delivery in Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. Single copies are also available at 116 locations throughout Park City, Heber City, Summit County and Salt Lake City. SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Summit County (home delivery): $48 per year (includes Sunday editions of The Salt Lake Tribune) Outside Summit County (home delivery available in Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties; all other addresses will be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service): $72 per year To subscribe please call 435-6499014 or visit www.parkrecord.com and click the Subscribe link in the Tools section of the toolbar at the top of the page. To report a missing paper, please call 801-204-6100. 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No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Wasatch Mountain News Media Co., 1670 Bonanza Drive, Park City, UT 84060. Periodicals postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, 84199-9655 and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, UT 84060. Entered as secondclass matter, May 25, 1977, at the Post Office in Park City, Utah, 84060 under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are: $48 within Summit County, $72 outside of Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable: $5 cancellation fee. Phone: 435-649-9014 Fax: 435-649-4942 Email: circulation@parkrecord.com Published every Wednesday and Saturday. Continued from A-1 More funds desired likely to be in favor it when viewed through the lens of a 17.5 percent hike. The measure would cost the average Utah family about $900 a year. “There needs to be some conversation in explaining what that impact is to a taxpayer, so they can say, ‘Yes, that is an amount I’m comfortable with providing funding into public education,” he said. “That area needs to be cleared up a little bit.” Rep. Tim Quinn, a Republican freshman legislator from Heber City whose district includes Park City, said most Utahns don’t support an increase as large as the one Our Schools Now is seeking. Additionally, he is skeptical the measure would actually increase revenues for public education over the long term. “For the first several years -- maybe three, maybe four -- we would see increased tax revenues,” he said. “But in the long run, this is not the way we produce more revenue for the state. We went to a flatter tax in 2007, and today our revenues per capita are higher than they’ve ever been. So the argument cannot be made, in my opinion, that the higher the tax rate, the higher the revenue.” Rep. Brian King, the House minority leader whose district stretches into Summit Park, said taxes should be increased to fund public education, but he worries that middle-class and poor families would bear the brunt of the burden under the Our Schools Now measure. “That doesn’t have much of an impact in a negative way on someone making $500,000 a year, but it does if you’re making $40,000 or $50,000,” the Democratic lawmaker said, adding that the initiative is better than not increasing education spending at all. Continued from A-1 Growth addressed of the Summit County Council, meanwhile, said Vail Resorts as well as other businesses need to assist as solutions are crafted for community issues. He mentioned parking and work force or otherwise restricted housing as two topics of note to the County Courthouse and the business community. The discussion about Vail Resorts and the area’s wider resort community was in response to a question from audience member Mike Andrews, a retired Park City High School principal who closely follows Park City-area issues. He told the panel Vail Resorts should assist in solving problems since the firm, according to Andrews, had a role in creating the issues. Neither Vail Resorts nor PCMR was represented on the panel, and it was not clear whether PCMR or Vail Resorts officials were present. The Project for Deeper Understanding forum was held as many in the Park City area continue to have concerns about a post-recession boom period that has led to complaints about traffic, development and other growth-related issues even as the local economy has performed impressively. Many of the issues discussed on Monday evening were topics that are regularly addressed “If you’re family is making that much, that’s a huge hit, so I don’t think that’s the best way to go about doing it.” King, who is pessimistic about the Legislature’s chances of increasing funding beyond the WPU, said he is also concerned about what message it would send to lawmakers if voters rejected the measure at the ballot box. “That would be awful because it would give the Legislature a feeling like, ‘See, we told you. People don’t want to have their taxes raised, even for education,’” he said. “It would make them feel like they don’t have to do anything about our funding that is last in the country. I don’t want to see that happen.” Quinn said a better alternative to raising the statewide income tax would be school districts increasing property taxes in their jurisdictions to the maximum statutory level. According to the Utah Board of Education, districts can impose a voted local levy and a board local levy to increase revenues in addition to the basic property tax assessed everywhere in the state. “If every school district increased property taxes within their district up to the statutory limit, the estimate is $829 million that would bring into education,” he said. “That’s a better way to do it because then districts can decide, ‘Do we need more money, and if we do are we willing to go to our citizens, who will directly feel the benefit or the adverse effects of education funding? Are they willing to say yes?’” Hauber said, however, that the voted local levy and board local levy are designed to fund enhancements to school offerings, rather than the basic education, which the state is supposed to pay for. “When a legislator says, ‘Oh, you haven’t maxed out your local levies before you come and ask for money from the state,’ it’s actually a false argument,” he said. “The (state) should be supplying enough monies to fund the basic education, and if a community wants to go above and beyond a basic education, it has the means through these other two levies. So you would never max those first, then turn to the state.” by Park City and Summit County leaders. The panelists talked about taxes, City Hall’s housing program and the employment picture for the area. Some of the highlights of the panelist comments included: • Thomas saying Park City generates numerous employment opportunities, but many of the positions do not pay high wages. He said Park City is “not a Silicon Valley.” • Robinson telling the audience that issues spread across jurisdictional lines and that Summit County must work with Park City and Wasatch County as solutions are crafted. • Foster describing that people in Park City like special events but do not want the related traffic. She said officials have “heard from the community that they’re done” as she cited special events. • Tom Fisher, the Summit County manager, saying sales taxes, which are an important source of government revenue, can vary. Sales-tax revenues are dependent on the economy, he explained in response to another panelist’s comment that sales taxes support the area’s lifestyle. • Jeff Jones, the economic development director for Summit County, indicating the development pace in the county remains down from pre-recession numbers. Employment numbers, though, are increasing. He argued traffic is directly related to the employment growth instead of development. • Tom Clyde, a Park Record columnist and former City Hall attorney, contending that Park City spent 35 years “replicating every possible mistake” made by Aspen, Colo., a competing resort community that has for years influenced some Park City decisions. Wed/Thurs/Fri, February 15-17, 2017 State lists a rental bill By Nan Chalat Noaker The Park Record A bill making its way through the Utah Legislature would allow homeowners to rent a spare bedroom on a short-term basis -- regardless of local zoning rules. House Bill 253, sponsored by Rep. John Knotwell, a Republican from Herriman, would prevent cities and counties from “enacting or enforcing an ordinance that prohibits an individual from listing a short term rental on a short term rental website.” The bill is a less dramatic version of the one Knotwell introduced last year that raised the hackles of municipal and lodging entities around the state. That bill would have placed a moratorium on all municipal restrictions regarding shortterm rentals but he shelved the proposal amid vigorous opposition. The current version, approved in committee on Tuesday by a vote of 13 to 1, requires that the owner of the property must also occupy the site during the term of the rental. In Park City, short-term rentals, commonly referred to as nightly rentals, are currently not allowed in large portions of the Prospector, Park Meadows and Thaynes Canyon neighborhoods. In areas where they are allowed, City Hall requires the property owner to obtain a business license and the unit be inspected for safety. According to Assistant Park City Continued from A-1 Bill seen as humane brought in is on a cage or on a lead. All you have to do is poke the animal and then you are done. They just don’t like change and they don’t think progressively.” The measure would prohibit the use of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide or any other inhalant in a chamber to euthanize a domestic or wild animal. It would require a shelter to administer sodium pentobarbital or a derivative as the sole method for euthanasia. Euthanasia by injection (EBI) is “comparable in cost, faster, painless and safer for personnel,” according to the Humane Society. The organization says it takes three-to-five seconds for an animal to lose consciousness and twoto-four minutes for death when an injection is used. However, gas chambers can take up to 30 minutes. Clay Coleman, Summit County’s Animal Control administrator, said the county has not used its carbon monox- Continued from A-1 Sundance talk planned sure of the road to traffic. Some businesses along that stretch of Main Street said sales suffered dramatically as a result of the Festival Village, indicating that the slump lasted through the setup and the festival itself. Another topic that could be broached eventually is the Sundance traffic. The festival has long been marked by terrible backups, but some claim the traffic was even worse on certain days than it is normally during Sundance. A member of the Park City Council afterward mentioned the possibility of Manager Matt Dias, officials have been working closely with Knotwell to convey their concerns. Dias said the local ordinances that currently regulate short-term rentals are the result of extensive public input from the neighborhoods themselves. “We feel our zoning reflects what the people in those areas want,” he said, adding that allowing short-term rentals requires a higher level of infrastructure, including parking and transit. In a broader sense, Dias said, nightly rentals can adversely impact the community’s already strapped affordable housing base. Expanding the number of short-term rental opportunities in a popular resort town can lead to homeowners putting their properties online at a higher rate rather than offering them as seasonal rentals to employees. They can also be detrimental to neighborhoods because properties may sit vacant for lengthy periods because the owners want to reserve them for more lucrative rates during the high season instead of renting them on a long-term basis. The bill will next move to the full House for debate. In the past, nightly-rental restrictions in Park City have been hotly debated at local public hearings, but Dias said the city is concerned that residents may not be aware of the discussion currently taking place at the state level. To follow the House Bill 253’s progress go to: http://le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/ static/HB0253.html ide chamber for a domestic animal since March of 2010. “When we find a stray a cat or dog, an owner has five business days to come get or claim the animal,” Coleman said. “After that it becomes our animal and then we can adopt it out or send it out to rescue. There are no time limits and, right now, we have an animal that has been here for three months.” However, Coleman said the county has a “very small” gas chamber that it uses for wildlife or “nuisance animals,” such as raccoons and skunks. Coleman said the county has a trapping program where people can rent live traps to “catch as many as they can and we come and take care of those animals.” ‘That is how we dispose of them and the reason we do that is because they are just so full of disease we don’t want our officers touching them,” Coleman said. “If that law goes into place, we will, in a sense, end our trapping program.” In 2016, nearly 150 wild animals were collected and put down as part of the county’s program, Coleman said. Opponents of the bill argue EBI is unsafe for shelter workers and costly. Cantwell said it is “simply not acceptable” to use a gas chamber for wildlife or ferals, which she described as “basically community cats.” “It has to stop,” Cantwell said. S.B. 56 bill will likely head to the full Senate sometime this week. introducing restriction on traffic in Old Town during Sundance. In his comments, Andy Beerman pointed to the access-pass system that has been in place during the Park City Kimball Arts Festival, which greatly limits traffic in the southern reaches of Old Town. It is unlikely the Special Event Advisory Committee will be prepared to address the details of the topics if they were to arise during the meeting on Wednesday. Any comments regarding traffic restrictions in Old Town, though, would be notable since the elected officials intend to discuss the matter later. Park City’s elected officials seated the Special Event Advisory Committee in 2015 in response to the growing number of festivals, tournaments and arts gatherings scheduled in the city. There is concern that the events impact the everyday lives of Parkites even as they boost Park City’s tourism-driven economy. Direct Importer of the World’s Finest Rugs A t t h e H i s t o r i c Vi l l a T h e a t r e lizy michelle janelle DEER CREEK TITLE & INSURANCE Michelle Huggins 3092 So. 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