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Show Park Ave. residents fight for commercial near new Town Lift K. v.- . -. p. ' 111111 "&7 y' . llillil) llJ: rAv , . ... rfm&mm by CHRISTOPHER SMART Record staff writer An impassioned plea by a long-time Park Avenue resident was successful in getting the Park City Council to reconsider whether to allow the commercial zoning designation desig-nation to leap to the west side of Park Avenue from the Depot project. The long-standing debate over zoning within the 10-acre depot area running north from Heber Avenue to the Park Station hotel and west from Deer Valley drive to Park Avenue seemed to be coming to a finale Aug. 1 in a behind-the-scenes battle at the council's weekly work session. A majority of three councilmen favored zoning four relatively small parcels in that area commercial. Councilmen Jim Doilney, Al Horri-gan Horri-gan and Bob Wells favored designating as commercial the east side Park Avenue parcels belonging to Mel Fletcher, the Rio Grande and Utah Power and Light, as well as property on Heber Avenue owned by Don Hutchison. The majority agreed that commercial commer-cial space should be limited to the first floor, a 10-foot setback should be imposed with a 35-foot height maximum. The consensus of the three was that the Park Avenue parcels should face cast into the Depot area rather than front on Park Avenue. The three did not favor a zoning I . designation on the west side of Park ' Avenue until Bernis ' Watts, Park . Avenue resident and former chairman chair-man of the Park City Planning Commission, told the council the Town Lift and the commercial zoning designation in the Depot area will destroy his neighborhood. In a lengthy and sometimes emotional speech, Watts told the council that unless his property near the lift on the west side of Park Avenue south of Eighth Street was given a zoning designation, he would not be able to sell out and move. "Who's going to buy our property if it is left with a residential zoning designation? We can't live there any more ... We need the opportunity to go and have a neighborhood somewhere." Watts explained the chair lift installed last week by the Park City Ski Area will cause enormous impacts on Park ... Avenue. He said about 60 feet from his front door large numbers of buses will unload each hour, bringing skiers to the Town lift. The impact of the lift cannot be mitigated, Watts contended. contend-ed. Referring to past zoning decisions made by the city, Watts said, "You've given every developer support on commercial from Deer Valley to Prospector Square ... Now you're telling the little guy to go to hell." Following Watts' arguments, Wells said he had no objection to designating as commercial the west side of Park Avenue south of Eighth Street. The topic has again been scheduled for discussion at the council meeting, today, Aug. 8 at 3:30 p.m. Before the discussion on commercial commer-cial designations for the west side of Park Avenue, the council discussed whether too much commercial space is already allowed under city zoning. Arguing against more commercial zoning . in. the Depot area was ; Councilman Bill Coleman. . Coleman told the council he favored a high-density residential transition zone on both sides of Park Avenue. City Planner Dave Boesch inform ed the council that the owners of the Depot project had planned to develop about 60,000 to 70,000 square feet of commercial space in the area. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether the blue ribbon should go to the entrant or the entry. Judge for yourself at the Wasatch County Fair this weekend or the Summit County Fair which begins next week. x |