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Show Housing Authority OK's controversial Deer Valley low-income condo unit by CHRISTOPHER SMART Record staff writer Confusion surrounding planning definitions has resulted in the Park City Housing Authority approving a $130,000 "employee housing" unit in Deer Valley's plush Fawn Grove condominium project. But the action by the housing authority drew criticism from a Deer Valley executive, who suggested the agency may have overstepped its bounds. Employee housing is described in the 1978 Deer Valley special exception permit, which required Deer Valley to build 211 "low- to moderate.income" housing units. However, there is no strict definition of low- to moderate-income housing. Uncertainty concerning the Fawn Grove approval began when the project's developers, Fields-Nipkow Real Estate and Development Co., requested an additional unit from the Park City Planning Commission. The project's master plan originally allowed 10 condominium units. The planning commission approv- j ed a one-bedroom managers unit and stated it could be an employee unit. That approval was contingent upon a favorable ruling from the Housing Authority. In a 3-2 split vote July 9, the Housing Authority approved the employee unit. But the minutes from . that meeting reveal that some confusion existed among the members mem-bers of that board and the developers concerning employee housing requirements. re-quirements. Housing Authority board members mem-bers balked at approving the employee designation for the condominium condo-minium with a $160,000 asking price. The board finally approved it if the developers would drop the price to $130,000 and restrict value increases to 10 percent annually. The manager's unit cannot be used as a nightly rental, the board ruled. In voting against the measure, Housing Authority member Evelyn Richards said the price was out of line with what Park City employees could afford. Other members, however, were swayed by developer Steve Nipkow, who stated a recent survey conducted for the Fields Corp. showed the average income in Park City equaled $42,500. But according to the Utah State Tax Commission, the average income in Park City is $18,300 based on tax returns for 1982. The University of Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research said it had no statistics on average incomes in Park City. According to Rhona Brinkerhoff, a research analyst for that organization, Department De-partment of Employment statistics reveal the average income in the Park City and Heber areas was $1,095 per month in 1983. The Fawn Grove manager's unit can be rented but not sold as an employee unit because it would violate the conditions of the 1978 special exception permit, said John Miiller, Deer Valley executive vice president. That pact stipulates that only 84 of the 211 employee housing units can be "for sale" properties. The balance must be rentals. Of those, 24 Fireside condominium "for sale" employee units were priced from $59,000 to $69,000. Miiller said Deer Valley already has built or contracted the 84 "for-sale" condominiums or apartments. apart-ments. He noted that neither the planning commission nor the housing hous-ing authority has the right to intercede on the 1978 agreement. The developers of Fawn Grove did not intend to throw a wrench in the employee housing agreement between be-tween Deer Valley and the city, Nipkow said. He explained that when the 10 Fawn Grove units were complete, it became architecturally advantageous for the firm to add a small one-bedroom unit to the project. Nipkow said originally the one-bedroom one-bedroom unit was conceived as a manager's unit that could be sold for less than the $350,000 asking price of the larger condominiums there. The real estate firm wanted planning commission approval for another unit on the project but did not necessarily want an employee designation, he said. The planning commission is scheduled to discuss the definition of the manager's unit at its Aug. 31 regularly scheduled meeting. |