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Show 1 Horrigan: Stalemate in city council is J message to change Mar sac hotel design 2 by CHRISTOPHER SMART f Record staff writer The Park City Council battled to a stalemate over whether to approve v the controversial Marsac hotel design, setting the stage for a Dec. P 19 showdown with a Chicago 3) developer. v After several motions to approve or disapprove the design plans failed t at last week's Redevelopment Agen- cyBoardmeeting.it adjourned with J no clear majority prevailing. A new aspect to the negotiations, c however, will be the return of coun- cilman Jim Doilney, who has been on vacation during the last month of J heated debate over the most modern aspects of the RDA's proposed Mar- r sac hotel. The city council sits as the W board of directors for the RDA. : , , J Doilney could become the swing w vote to determine whether the r design will be approved as currently W proposed. j At last week's RDA board meeting, a motion by councilman . Bob Wells to approve the design died 3 for lack of a second. Mayor Jack , Green was poised to vote for the pro- v ject in the event of a tie. But coun- r cilman Al Horrigan refused to se- p cond the motion. ; Horrigan said he did not second Wells' motion because he wanted to send a message to the developer. "You can look at it as a stalemate or a message," Horrigan said. "The swing vote was saying to you (the developer), 'make some modifications modifica-tions and you'll have a project.'" Councilmen Tom Shellenberger , and Bill Coleman have Voiced their opposition to the project as proposed. propos-ed. Horrigan said he favors the project pro-ject but wants the developer to show some design "flexibility " The project's critics contend that the modern design, which includes three large glass atriums, -would diminish the flavor of Old Town. The 275-room hotel would be owned own-ed by First National Realty and Development Co, and would be built between Swede Alley and Marsac Avenue at the intersection Deer Valley Drive and Heber Avenue. The council had asked the project architect to alter the most controversial con-troversial elements of the plan. However, architect Walter Lawrence would not yield when asked ask-ed to reduce the prominence of the three large glass cubes that would protrude from the hotel's north, east and west quadrants. Lawrence, who was absent from last week's RDA board meeting, has. stated . that design changes "will hurt the in- , tegrity of the project." Time is running out for the current RDA board as Green, Coleman and Wells will leave office Dec. 31. At least two of the incoming members are less than enthusiastic about the present hotel design. That combination combina-tion has added tension to the negotiations. negotia-tions. Horrigan had asked the council to approve the hotel's design subject to the reduction or elimination of the large glass structures. He withdrew the motion on the advice of City Attorney At-torney Tom Clyde, who argued that it was ambiguous. Clyde said such an approval would open the door for the developer to build the design as proposed. Clyde said it was like saying, "I will buy your horse subject to it becoming a cow." ... ". Wells and Green argued that the project would bring economic viability to Main Street. V But Shellenberger and Coleman argued against the project on an aesthetic basis. . ' .; ; ' Shellenberger, who has been the project's most vocal critic, told the board the design is not fitting for Park City's historic district. "If that hotel is built on that site, it will be the biggest abomination to hit Park City yet. It will kill the historic district." , Shellenberger and Coleman said they could support the concept if the glass atriums were eliminated. Following the meeting, Horrigan said any design the RDA approves for a hotel on that site will meet with opposition. "Regardless of what we build, there will be opposition. There will always be people who point and say, 'How did you let that happen?'" Horrigan contended that the issue really boils down to the question, "Does Park City want a five-star hotel?" He favors the idea, he said, because a five-star hotel will attract people even during the off-season. But in order to achieve such status, Horrigan said the architecture has to be "spectacular." "He (the architect) needs that entry en-try statement (the glass cubes) to say something. It needs to be ar-' ar-' chitecturally spectacular to be a five-star hotel." Horrigan said the pressure may be on Doilney at the Dec. 19 meeting, when a decision is expected because it will be the last time the council meets before Green, Coleman and Wells leave office. "If he'd (Doilney) been there, I would have seconded Wells' motion (to approve the design)," Horrigan said. Such a move would have put Doilney in the position to break the tie vote. |