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Show Let the chips fall where they may, says Fields -J . vO . " " ' 77t? af,:"'WTO'' 11 -Z'"1 Vv . "n J """" . w f swi''''' . Randy Fields bares his soles printed below. Although the city is now requiring a $60,000 letter of credit in lieu of renovation of the little red house, estimates by city building officials ranged from a low of $75,000 to a high or $125,000 for complete restoration. This year the city council adopted a new more restrictive sign ordinance which applies to the Egyptian Theater as well as all other Park City buildings. Prior to the ordinance, some confusion did exist regarding the city's sign requirements. The city council, planning commission and historic district commission did not take aiy formal action against proposed replicative architecture for the mall. However, former Councilwomen Tina Lewis and Helen Alvarez did favor a contmeporary look for the mall. Silver Mill changed to a modern design to avoid a long approval process. by 1 eri Gomes Randy and Debbi Fields say they are hurt and confused. And unless something unexpected and dramatic happens, they are taking their businesses out of town businesses ranging from the international Mrs. Fields Cookie Company to Fields Financial, which gives economic futures forecasts to such Fortune 100 giants as Mead Paper Company, IBM and Armco Steel. The Fields claim some recent actions by city officials have made them feel they were no longer "wanted and needed" in Park City. The Fields, whose profile nationally has seen them the focus of two recent major magazine articles (the cover of Inc. magazine this summer featured Debbi Fields, and the December issue of Esquire profiled the couple as part of the "Best of the New Generation"), have until recently kept a low profile in their own back yard. They are seldom seen on the society pages of the local papers or hobnobbing at various big scale functions. But as the controversial Main Street Marketplace mall a project developed by Fields nears completion, the Fields have chosen to speak out about the treatment they have received from the city. "We think we're liked by the community," says Randy Fields. "We're not so sure we're liked by the government officials." Fields was recently asked by city officials to renovate a small red house in the historic district adjacent to his project. It was a condition of approval for the mall. Two weeks ago, Fields says, a city official left a message on his answer phone that if he didn't come up with $234,000 in a letter of credit to insure the renovation of the little red house he would not receive his certificate of occupancy for the mall. Fields says he protested the amount, pointing to estimates ranged from $20,000 to $60,000 to complete the renovation. The city council, upon hearing his complaint reduced the amount of the letter of credit to $60,000. , "They were-putting a gun to my head," says Fields: "It -makes absolutely no sense to shoot the golden goose. But in essence that's just what they were doing." Fields traces his problems with the city back to 1981, and the renovation of the Egyptian Theatre. "We had just finished creating a million dollar theatre for the community and the city was uncooperative in approving any of a number of designs for a marquee for the building. We should have taken the hint then." Instead Fields went ahead with his decision to build a shopping mall on Main Street an idea which did not, as they say, pencil out. "In fact, Kerry Judd, my vice president of finance, told me ahead with that design," Randy continues. "They wanted something more modern looking. The result is the mall today. It is a great building but it's not at all what we wanted to put there, originally." In the meantime, the Fields family and their companies, which had moved to town in 1981, continued to grow. Randy Fields added FieldsNipkow investments, a venture capital group, which brought both Unibase, a computer company, and Satellite Network of America to Park City. Mrs. Fields added an east coast cookie company, Famous, to her growing empire and expanded overseas: Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Their family grew from one to three daughters. The Fields say they tried to build a home for their family in town but were told they would not be granted a variance for a setback they wanted in case future development required a road to be cut into their cul de sac area. So they chose instead to purchase land in Woodland and build a retreat there. Last summer Mrs. Fields sponsored an outdoor performance by the Utah Symphony at the Park Meadows Golf Course. The proceeds of the concert went to Cystic Fibrosis, a favorite charity of Mrs. Fields because it is the number one genetic killer of children. Debbi Fields, mother of three, says she wants to see the disease wiped out in her lifetime. "We believe in winning," she says. "We believe we'll have a cure in the near future. I only see Mrs. Fields (cookies) as a conduit for enabling us to donate. The customers buy our cookies in the first place; they make that choice. Then our employees work hard to create a successful company. All those people give us, Randy and Debbi Fields, the opportunity to donate to Cystic Fibrosis. And that makes everybody feel good." "Feeling good" is the theme behind Debbi Fields' cookie empire. The phrase is mentioned in the ads the companies runs, in the . newsletter it distributes to ' its employees, and on the back of every cookie bag. The youngest of five daughters of a welder in Oakland, California, Debbi remembers her own childhood as "lonely." "I always felt left out. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up, but I knew I wanted to make people happy. Everybody wants to feel needed and wanted." Debbi says the reason she has finally chosen to speak out to the city council and in the press is because, Randy and Debbi no longer feel needed or wanted in Park City and they don't really understand why. "My name is everything in terms of my reputation and to see it smeared when we are trying to do something good, well . . ." her voice . trails off. As a shopper and a mother, Debbi says she suggested features for the interior of the mall that cost a great deal more money, but features that . she feels will add to the shopping experience for other mothers and shoppers. "I know how difficult it is to take a stroller on stairs, so we put escalators and elevators in the mall. There is a great feeling of openness inside because I like that. And nice detail work like the copper ceilings those are all things we didn't have to do. But I spend 80 percent of my time in Park City and my daughter attends school here. I wanted this to be something I could show her and be proud of."' Randy and Debbi Fields, despite their run-ins with various city officials, are bullish on Park City. "People really care here," Debbi says. "I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a car stuck in the snow. And after some kind soul stopped to pull me out and I reach for my wallet, people always say basically the same thing 'Just do the same for somebody else.' And I have. I like thinking that expresses the heart of the good that is here in Park City." "I'll do whatever it costs to finish things here," says Randy Fields. "I don't want to be applauded for my efforts, but I don't want to be hassled, either." One of the Fields companies, Unibase, will be out of space in February and the decision has been made to move that company to Salt Lake. Other Fields companies are exploring other locations. "Our options are from Heber to Salt Lake," admits Randy. "We have had offers from a number of cities to relocate." Fields moved to Park City in 1981 with just three full-time employees. Today their various companies employ more than 100 people. Fields had predicted that in a five-year period they would have brought 1,000 full-time jobs to the community. He says he does notiinderstand the message he feels he is getting frorrj ' city officials, that they don't want or need that kind of year-round employment. "Look, I'll keep at anything as long as I can see the humor in the situation. But this is no longer funny. I have deep hurt, deep disappointment and deep regret over how things have turned out here. "I'm just the first pioneer over the mountain where this issue is concerned," he claims. "If this is how I'm being treated, what kind of message does that send out to other businesses which may have wanted to locate here on a permanent basis?" Could the Fields change their minds? Could they be convinced to keep their various interests in Park City? What if the city offered them free land to build a parking structure for the mall? Would that do the trick? "Do you understand, that's no longer it?" says Debbi, "If we had it to do all over again, we would. We still think the mall is needed. I'm going to show that to my daughters and not be embarrassed. If the community wanted us to stay, well . . . maybe." Randy and Debbi Fields talk about contributions they want to make to their daughters' public schools to make them every bit as good as private schools. They talk about a plant-a-tree program for the town they would love to see developed. They don't see themselves as developers. They both refer to themselves as stay-at-home-people who prefer family activities to large social groups. Debbi quietly serves on the board of LDS hospital and Salt Lake mayor Ted Wilson's economic development committee. Randy is on the governor's council for economic development and the University of Utah's venture capital committee. "We're staying in Utah," says Randy. It is becoming apparent, however, the Fields won't stay where don't feel needed and wanted. The . question which remains to be nswered is, does Park City, a once sleepy' little mining town turned destination ski resort, want the Fields and various enterprises to call the town home? Editor's note: While Teri Gomes did not ask the city for a point-by-point response to Field's accusations, comments from city officials on a number of these issues have been printed in recent weeks. A synopsis of a few of them is financially it was the worst thing I could do. But Debbi and I wanted to give something to the community we had chosen to call home. We saw there was a need to provide various forms of year-round employment for people here, that were satisfying and financially rewarding enough so people wouldn't have to hold two and three jobs just to stay here. We saw the mall as an important element to that concept." Randy Fields has long expressed his belief that Park City's economy should be based on more than real estate and skiing. "Whether it's the passage of the flat tax and it's effect on condo sales, or a bad snow year, this town is not prepared for an economic drought. Skiing should be the frosting on the cake here, but it shouldn't be the cake." The Fields struggled with the city for some time over the design of the mall. "We talked to a number of longtime long-time residents who wanted the mall designed historically," says Debbi. "We were listening to the people when we proposed a historic replicative structure." "But the city told us we wouldn't get the approvals needed if we went |