OCR Text |
Show Council backs away from Marsac hotel "They want to dismantle the ship now that we're out to sea' said City Councilman Bill Coleman. by Christopher Smart A growing schism between Park City Redevelopment Agency (RDA) board members opened wide Oct. 4 when a new majority turned its back on a plan to build a major hotel on the old Marsac mill site just north of the municipal building. Councilman Al Horrigan and Jim Doilney joined Tom Shellenberger in refusing to sign an amended option agreement which would have allowed allow-ed a Chicago-based development firm to begin planning a 360,000 square foot complex of hotel rooms and condominiums. In the process, they sent the agency back to the drawing board to reassess its goals. Meanwhile, a deal between the RDA and the Fields Nipkow Corp. to build an office building and 220-car parking structure in Swede Alley died and a third plan with a California Califor-nia developer to build parking and commercial space on upper Main Street went on the critical list. Of four redevelopment projects under discussion this year, only the agreement hammered out with Park City developers Harry Reed and Skip Schirf is becoming a reality. That project at the north end of Swede Alley will give the RDA 42 parking spaces. While the actions at the last RDA meeting seemed sudden they had been coming for a long time, according to those who refused to endorse the Marsac hotel concept. "After a while, when the deals aren't being put together, something is real wrong ... I want to look at the goals (of the RDA) again," said Horrigan. The RDA's master plan, first set down in 1977, calls for increased parking and lodging beds in the Main Street area to create an economic boost for Old Town. Doilney, however, maintains that times have changed since then. "Those goals were established by other people in a different time," Doilney said. However, he added that creation of parking remains a prime concern. While Doilney and Horrigan inherited many of the redevelopment plans upon joining the council in January, Shellenberger played a part in guiding the RDA over the previous four years. But he agrees it is time for the agency to reflect on changes in Park City. "When those goals were established estab-lished Main Street was dying. But today it's growing and has a bed base." Shellenberger voted against the hotel option at September RDA session. But Councilman Bob Wells and Bill Coleman want to keep the RDA on its present course now that the agency has acquired the land it needs to build parking and a hotel. "They want to dismantle the ship now that we're out to sea," said Coleman. The hotel would have provided a "sound economic base" by attracting tourists to Main Street on a year-round basis, he added. The RDA's goals would stimulate the economy on Main Street, according to Wells. He said he would try to muster support from local merchants to keep the hotel idea alive. But Shellenberger, Doilney and Horrigan also say they see a flaw in the RDA's philosophy to bolster Main Street by supplying parking. They say it will cost about $8 million to develop 1,000 parking spaces if done in conjunction with developers who want office and commercial space. However, if the RDA's lands in Swede Alley were simply paved, they say, 500 parking spaces could be created for about $500,000 That belief, coupled with the size of the proposed hotel and its impact on the historical district, has caused the three to break with the current master plan goals. Horrigan maintains that it doesn't make any sense to build the additional 500 spaces at a cost of $7 . 5 million. Further, he said that the proposed hotel guests and office workers who are brought to Main Street by RDA projects would use a great deal of the additional 500 spaces. "The parking has become more expensive than the land itself," Doilney said. He added that by building parking structures and then building office or commercial buildings build-ings on top of them, future parking may be limited. Doilney shares the sentiments of Horrigan and Shellenberger that a hotel may not necessarily attract tourists. Conversely, tourists staying Hotel to A9 CCDimttniniTjQ(BdI f n(DDim Hotel from A1 in Park City come to Main Street anyway because of the shopping district. Coleman, , however;, . insists .that,,, paving land that was purchased with the intent of re-development is wrong. "I have spent hours arguing to the legislature and the school board that those lands (purchased by the RDA with tax dollars) wouldn't just become parking lots that aren't on the tax rolls." but for now, paving and striping is exactly what will happen to the RDA parcels that were slated for development by Fields and by Taylor Grant, the Newport Beach developer who propsed a 137-car parking garage topped with a plaza and commercial space across the street from the Treasure Mountain Inn. According to Community Development Develop-ment Director Mike Vance, paving the two parcels would provide 150 parking spaces. The earlier plans would have yielded anywhere from 357 to 500 spaces in two parking structures. Whether the Marsac site is also graded and paved is being discussed by the RDA board. The deal with Taylor Grant to build on the upper Main Street parcel began to sour three weeks ago when a soils study revealed that site had previously been used as a dump. The poor soils meant that foundation costs for the structure would soar by $250,000. The RDA has refused to cover any of the additional expenses. Grant maintains that without some aid the deal will become financially unworkable. unwork-able. And earlier this week, the Fields Nipkow Corp. informed the RDA that an office structure and parking terrace in Swede Alley was not economically feasible. Both deals had been in the works since spring. The Fields agreement with the RDA grew out of an earlier deal for construction of parking as part of the Main Street Marketplace mall. Fields is still required to provide 51 parking spaces or pay the city $510,000. Additionally , the ciy is holding . $50,000 in an escrow I'ouni which was providi'd by Fielii-s as security that the deal for the parking and office building would not fall through. |