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Show JUNE Park City’s Future Still Grappling With its Past Continued from page 10 brother had completed his own Main Street building to the old limit of 36 feet. During that city council meeting, Old Town resident Todd Gabler wondered aloud about Jon Olch’s new Main Street building and the timing of the the emporary ordinance. “It seems horse is already out of the barn and has thoroughly trampled mummy’s garden.” 3ehind the scenes there was an active ant hill of maneuvering. All this deception and cloak and dagger may seem oul of place for a town that outwardly looks like such a nice, little place. But few may remember that Park City was not built on virtue Ir 2ZOC od process and is what he termed “stealth planning.” - Still, it was necessary, he argued. “The city was getting inundated by requests for 3rd and 4th story construction... To wait six months is reasonable and it won't hurt anything,” Sincock said Critics, however, sz y the 27-foot height restriction on Main Street could become permanent and say the council was stampeded into action by the city staff shaking the bogey man at them This is not the first time that criticism has been leveled against City Hall Councilman Sincock, himself, had said plan- ning Not Built On Virtue Gold prospectors built Park City in the mid-1800s as the Mormons were carefully laying out their Zion below in Salt Lake Valley. But unlike the well-laid plans of Mormon prophet Brigham Young, which called for wide boulevards Not Allowed and well-planned Neither the historic structure on the right nor the replica neighborhoods on the left fit within Park City’s new height ordinance Park City was hodge-podge of miners shacks. As Park as much before he was elected in City evolved, a Main Street emerged November. Now he finds the suggestion with livery stables, saloons and boardirritating: “Nobody tells me how to ing houses Large Victorian-style vote,” he said, referring to the staff at houses sprung up among the smaller city hall shacks. The hillsides were doted with structures of various sizes and shapes. Who Runs the Town? Up Heber Avenue, where real But architects Quentin Scott and estate agents now drive clients toward Peter Barnes continue to raise that Deer Valley, was the red light district, notion, along with Mary Wintzer and where prostitutes could ply their trade Marianne Cone. seven days a week. “The planning staff and the legal Park City was built on the necessidepartment, rather than the elected offities of gold and silver mining. It providcials, are imposing their political will,” ed fortunes for a few and hard work for Barnes says of the height restrictions. many who were thankful to have jobs. “That’s the sinister side of it.” For her part, Mary Wintzer said that Stealth Planning City Councilman Roger Harlan voted for Some may joke that not much has the ski bridge because he always goes changed. But the fact is, that everything along with the mayor and City Manager is dramatically different than it was 100 Toby Ross. years ago in Park City. Deer Valley is The only council member to vote chuck-full of million dollar vacation against the bridge, Shauna Kerr, was houses and condominiums. Park City, labeled as courageous by Wintzer, itself, is now made up of many new implying that Kerr had the wherewithal upper middle-class neighborhoods, to buck the mayor and the staff, who characterized by half-million dollar had forwarded the bridge concept after houses. it was proposed by developer Pat Still, the historic district is thought Sweeney. to be the heart of Park City and memDuring her interview on KPCW bers of the city council defend the surradio, Wintzer called the large developprise building moratorium on Main ment at the base of Main Street, the Street as something necessary and not “Town Rift” project, because “it’s tearing permanent. the town apart,” she said. New City Councilman Paul Sincock Marianne Cone said the ski bridge admits that the surprise six-month ordiwould maximize the value of condonance was outside the normal public miniums inside the Town Lift project by PAGE 1996 making them “ski in - ski out” properties, which investors thrive upon. “I don’t think it’s for our benefit,” she said of the townsfolk who comprise the backbone of the resort community. Already residents who had adopted the historic town before it was a stop on the tourist circuit are leaving. “This could be the death-knell for the historict district,” Cone said. But City Councilman Hugh Daniels, who was derided by Wintzer and Cone as being more interested in investors than in his constituents, said the ski bridge only made sense. The ski lift terminal was already in place but the ski run stopped 100 yards short, requiring skiers to walk across busy Park Avenue to get a ride back up the mountain, he said. “My feeling is that the historic district is as important to the town’s tourism as is skiing. I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive,” he said in his own defense. Helping Harlan and Daniels, Sincock, as well as City Councilman Chuck Klingenstein along with their decision, was developer Pat Sweeney. He promised, or threatened, to build more, higher and bigger if the city did not approve the bridge In the end, the city council pared the bridge proposal back from a 40-foot proposed width to 30 feet. Not Our Fault Daniels, along with everyone else at city hall, ducks responsibility for the large, urban scale of the Town Lift project, explaining that it had been approved in the early 1980s, leaving the present council harmless to criticism and powerless to do much about it. Part of the dynamics of those agreements in the early 1980s included land swaps allowing Park City to obtain the right-of-way for what is now Deer But the city manager and the mayor decided against it. “You can’t go to court on a theory that doesn’t work,” City Manager Ross explained. “We bought down the heights as far as we could,” he said of negotiations with Town Lift developers who where given financial rewards for bringing heights down to 50 and 60 feet. Now Park City may find itself negotiating with architects Quentin Scott and Peter Barnes over the new 27-foot residential height restriction - six feet smaller than the old rule. Municipal Faux Pas For starters, Scott and Barnes have caught the city in a faux pas. As written, the ordinance requires heights to be scaled back five feet in every zone in town. Thus far, city planners are following Mayor Olch’s written instruction to ignore the ordinance as written, except when it applies in the historic district, as intended. Something Barnes finds outlandish: “They can’t do that. The Land Management Code says the staff can not use anything not outlined in the code.” In addition, there were legal notice problems, because Park City billed the ordinance as containing increases in required setbacks from property lines of five feet, when they were actually 10 feet. But more to the point, Barnes argues that a 27-foot height limit on steep and expensive lots in Old Town makes building economically impossible. In 1990s parlance, that is “a taking.” “If one was willing to speculate, one would argue that they wanted a building moratorium,” Barnes said, noting that a minimum height of 28.5 feet is necessary for two stories with a sloped roof. “They made a mistake and can't admit it. Or, they are telling an outright lie.” Under the new height ordinance with setbacks, Old Town houses on the traditional 25foot by 75-foot lots, could not exceed 1,440 square feet. Meaning that property Owners would end up investing about $300,000 for a very modest living space. “In my opinion, the staff doesn’t understand the serious implications of Buildings go to new heights in Town Lift project, dwarfing historic structures. Valley Drive. In exchange, ings up to 80 feet in height. In the early 1990s, it was suggested by some that the municipality disallow the mass and density of the Town Lift project and fight it out in court. Park City had done so with other projects, most notably the Kearns-Tribune project slated for east of the Park Meadows Golf Course and Telemark Park, another huge project planned to be built adjacent to Deer Valley. 12 plan,” Barnes Not a Pretty Sight landowners were given zoning providing for build- this Sai It may be possible in the end to build a two-story house to 27 feet, but it won't be pretty, said Paul DeGroot, a longtime Park City resident and former member of the Park City Historic District Commission. DeGroot, who is also a builder, says the new ordinance will make it necessary to eliminate design elements like bay windows and sloping rooflines. The new ordinance is not in keeping with Continued on page 17 |
