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Show A-4 Wed/Thurs/Fri, January 8-10, 2020 The Park Record City Beat CITY EDITOR: JAY HAMBURGER 649–9014 EXT. 15712 | Citynews@parkrecord.com The parking issues continue JAY HAMBURGER/PARK RECORD One of Park City’s drop-and-load zones is located in the Brew Pub lot toward the southern end of Main Street. A City Hall official says the program, which debuted in late 2019, is operating well. There have been a series of tows and other issues, though. Come check out our cafe and market located at 221 Main Street! Recieve a free drip of coffee and $10 off your first purchase when you download the app “Riverhorse Provisions”. Open from 7:30am-8pm, daily. Now serving a dinner menu. 221 Main St, Park City, UT 84060 435.649.0799 Buying or selling? Classifieds work! Sell your stuff under $200 for free. Pricier items? Free online & just $5 more in print for stuff under $3K ParkRecord.com/placead City Hall pleased with program even as tows mount JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record Park City in the last week continued to experience parking problems as large crowds descended on the community for the week of New Year’s amid what appears to be ongoing confusion in the Main Street core regarding City Hall’s drop-andload parking program. Leaders in late 2019 created the drop-and-load zones in an effort to reduce the amount of congestion on and around Main Street and improve the safety of the shopping, dining and entertainment district. But the Park City Police Department in the weeks since the debut of the drop-and-load zones has reported numerous problems, especially involving drivers stopping in one of the zones without the proper permit. Department logs showed the issues were rampant around New Year’s, traditionally one of the busiest tourism stretches of the year. The elected officials requested a high level of enforce- ment of the drop-and-load zones, and the police logs reflect that request. The Police Department, which has an officer assigned to enforcement of the drop-and-load zones, at some points in the last week reported cases in quick succession as drivers without the proper permit stopped in one of the zones. There was also a series of cases involving double parking, the logs showed. Still, though, City Hall sees the program as achieving the goals. The manager of City Hall’s economic development programs, Jonathan Weidenhamer, said the program was still new as the holiday crowds arrived. Weidenhamer, who was heavily involved in the discussions about the drop-and-load zones, said he is not observing major congestion on Main Street and has not received a wave of complaints. “We’re really pleased with how it’s going,” he said, adding, “It’s going great.” Weidenhamer said a lodging-property homeowners association reported a reduction in time for a round trip drive to Main Street by more than a minute since the debut of the dropand-load zones. Other lodging firms have indicated the program has been a success, he said. There are a series of drop-and- load zones that require a permit after 5 p.m. The vehicles using a drop-and-load zone must be actively dropping people off or picking them up. The restriction is in place after 5 p.m. while prior to that time the zones are available to anyone for 15-minute parking. They are strategically located in high-traffic spots on Main Street, many of them close to popular restaurants. The Police Department logs indicate the agency fielded complaints throughout the holidays and in a variety of locations. In many of the cases the police identified the issue as relating to the drop-and-load zones while in other instances a generic parking problem or traffic stop was logged. It is believed many of the generic cases dealt in some way with the drop-and-load zones. The police are typically issuing warnings rather than tickets, but there has also been a series of tows for violating the drop-andload zone rules. There were concentrations of cases last week in addition to single ones. On Jan. 1, as an example, five cases were reported in less than an hour starting at 5:31 p.m. The next day there were seven traffic stops on the 300 block of Main Street and the 400 block of the street over a period of 41 minutes. PoliCe Blotter Driver cut off in Deer Valley on New Year’s The Park City Police Department on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 8:43 p.m. was told of a case on the roads involving two vehicles. One of the drivers reportedly cut off the other one on a road in Deer Valley. The other driver was “almost put into guardrail,” according to public police logs. Other incidents reported to the Police Department last week included: On Sunday, Jan. 5 at 11:50 p.m., the police were told people were lunging at cars somewhere along Park Avenue. The person who contacted the authorities, a driver, nearly hit one of the people, according to police logs. The Police Department described the circumstances as suspicious. A man was reportedly seen on a Woodside Avenue porch throwing unspecified items and yelling. The man apparently could not get into a house, the police were told. The Police Department logged the case as suspected intoxication. The police responded to two suspected intoxication cases on Main Street in just more than an hour starting at 12:17 a.m. Public police logs did not provide details about the cases. On Saturday, Jan. 4 at 11:29 p.m., a driver hit a deer on S.R. 248. A driver reportedly hit a stop sign at the intersection of Main Street and Heber Avenue at 8:56 p.m. The collision bent the sign, the police said. A crew was sent to repair the sign. The Police Department classified the case as a hit-and-run accident. The police at 4:46 p.m. were told snow “avalanched off” a roof on King Road. The snow landed in the road, the person who contacted the authorities said. The person wanted someone to remove the snow from the road. Youngsters were reportedly seen skiing off a roof on Kearns Boulevard, apparently at the Park City School District campus, at 2:57 p.m. They were gone by the time the police arrived. Water was seen surfacing through pavement on Seasons Drive at 7:22 a.m. The water flowed down the street, the police were told. On Friday, Jan. 3 at 3:33 p.m., a truck outfitted with a crane was reported to be stuck in the intersection at Quinn’s Junction. Traffic backed up as a result of the truck, the police said. Six kids were reportedly seen pushing snow against the front door of Treasure Mountain Junior High at 2:11 p.m. for an unknown reason. They were wearing ski boots, the police were told. The Police Department indicated the circumstances were suspicious. A suspected drunken driving case was reported on Deer Valley Drive at 7:09 a.m. Public police logs did not provide details. On Thursday, Jan. 2 at 9:25 p.m., a carbon monoxide detector sounded in a structure on Lookout Drive. The police were told there were “no headaches” according to department logs. A tire was seen in the road at or close to the intersection of S.R. 248 and Wyatt Earp Way at 5:57 p.m. The Police Department indicated the tire created a traffic hazard. Several hours earlier, at 2:37 p.m., a box was seen in the road at or close to the intersection of Deer Valley Drive and Aerie Drive. The police described the box as a traffic hazard as well. A slide-off accident was reported at or close to the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard at 9:17 a.m. Just earlier, at 8:57 a.m. in an apparently unrelated case, a hitand-run accident was logged at the same location. On Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 7:44 a.m., an elk herd was seen close to the road at or near the intersection of Kearns Boulevard and Comstock Drive, or in the vicinity of nearby PC Hill, at 7:44 a.m. The police at 1:22 a.m. were told someone jumped onto a stage as a band was performing on Main Street at 1:22 a.m. The Police Department described the circumstances as suspicious. A party, perhaps with 100 people, was reported on Monarch Drive at 1:03 a.m. The Police Department classified the case as suspected disturbing the peace. On Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 2:52 p.m., a hit-and-run traffic accident was reported on the 1700 block of Park Avenue. Public police logs did not provide details. A Christmas tree was seen in the road somewhere along Deer Valley Drive at 10:59 a.m. The Police Department said the tree created a traffic hazard. On Monday, Dec. 30 at 10:09 a.m., someone was reportedly stuck in an elevator on Lowell Avenue. |