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Show I Ten O'Clock Whistle by David Fleisher Editor's Note: The following Ten O'Clock Whistle first appeared in the October 30, 1980 Issue of the Park Record. Another look at developments It has been said that Park City is going through a development boom, that there are too many commercial and residential projects being built for a town this size. Some people question if Park City can adequately service all of the developments which are either already built or which will be built in the future. It's easy to get into a big argument whenever this subject surfaces, particularly at cocktail parties, but especially at Planning Commission meetings. Quite frankly, I find myself at times arguing on both sides of this issue because there are advantages and disadvantages with expanded growth. It just seems to me that wherever I go in this town, people are saying things like, "Park City's getting too big. I don't like it here anymore. People aren't as friendly as they used to be. Whatever happened to our little community?" On the other hand, people say things like, "Growth is healthy for a town, plus it helps the economy. As long as growth occurs in an orderly manner, it's okay; and it's inevitable anyway." A local resident brought to my attention recently the potential impact all these developments will have on traffic. (This person, by the way, is in the real estate business, but don't ask me his name because I'm not telling.) If all the proposed projects were approved tomorrow and constructed soon thereafter, do you have idea what this would do to traffic flow, say on Park Avenue? Two developments come to mind quickly: Deer Valley (that's years away until final completion, true) and Park City Village. The latter project calls for 906 units, 2700 parking spaces underground, and a tremendous amount of commercial area. It's proposed to be built at the Resort. What's going to happen when thousands of out-of-state visitors flock to Deer Valley and Park City Village in the ears ahead? If only a third of these people drive cars, they'll have to go piggy-back down Park Avenue because, let's face it, that street is not exactly an L.A. freeway. Now I've only mentioned two developments. But as you well know, there are many, many more sitting on the fire waiting to explode. I a.m astounded at how many projects are going up in this town. Just the other day, I was walking around town and bumped my head on a 14-unit condominium complex. And in the not-too-distant future, I'm going to bump my head on the proposed 300-unit golf course hotel because it was approved by the planning commission last week. And I can't tell you how many times I've bumped into Alpha Beta, Alpha Beta, Alpha Beta. I must admit, I am concerned about too many developments in Park City. See, I have enough trouble with car maintenance as it is. In fact, my car needs a tune-up right now. Furthermore, whenever my car spots a new condominium complex or a new commercial building, it scares the heck out of it. I can tell the car tends to get confused, as if it wants to say, "stop me! stop me! I don't know where to go!" It has been pointed out a number of times that Park City will need an efficient mass transportation system in order to accommodate all these condos, apartments and shops. I agree, but then again, what would a mass transportation system look like in Park City? I mean, can you imagine hopping on a high-speed monorail to go shopping? Japan has great monorails, but that's Japan, and this is Park City. And what about subways? Forget it. People get mugged every lay in New York on subways. If it's between a monorail and a subway, I'd vote for the monorail. At least in a monorail, you can see the mountains. The mountains may be a little blurry, but you can still get a pretty good idea of what they look like as you fly across Park City on the monorail. Park City will certainly grow, probably by leaps and bounds, in the future. And who knows? It may be a more enjoyable town in which to live. But to reiterate, we need to address the potential traffic congestion. If we elect not to have a monorail or a subway, we may have to buy pogo sticks just to make it to the post office on Main Street. Or, we could buy little golf carts; they would surely save energy. As I walk up Main Street, I hear the Ten O'Clock Whistle. |