During the 30 years I have lived in Park City, there always has been tension between the residents and developers. For the first 20 years or so, the city government tried to strike a balance between these constituencies and hold developers at bay.
This dynamic has completely changed and our city government no longer has our backs because it has become a developer itself. In fact, City Hall is one of Summit County’s biggest developers.
Current city projects include a 42,000-square-foot housing project (EngineHouse), a 15,000-square-foot building in the center of our sweet city park, a total redevelopment of the pools and outdoor area of the MARC, and a possibility of a mini city in Bonanza Park with five-story buildings.
Why are we asked to vote on open space bonds only to have our city build on every square inch of land that it owns? There is no better example of this hypocrisy than the Gordo Project. The city is contemplating building 1,500 parking spaces, a park-and-ride, 260 condo units, and 50,000 square feet of retail space on the 22 acres it owns a mile west of Highway 40 on S.R. 248.
This parcel is surrounded by land that our past leadership and private citizens fought hard to protect as open space: Round Valley, Osguthorpe Ranch, or “Land of Oz,” and the Red Maple parcel that town leaders convinced the military not to build on. It’s a slap in the face to all those who contributed to preserve these areas to have “Parking City” built right next to them.
It’s also a bad place for a park-and-ride. Visitors would still have to fight S.R. 248 traffic for a mile and would likely forgo the hassle of parking and waiting for a bus and just drive the additional four miles into town.
A far better place for a park-and-ride is Richardson Flat. Visitors can access it without driving into the city and buses can replace thousands of cars. That is probably the reason why it was used during the 2002 Olympics as a park-and-ride and why the city has been using it that way during the last few ski seasons.
The Larry Miller Group has offered to partner with the city and develop its 1,000 acres at Richardson Flat as a park-and-ride and and affordable housing, directly contradicting the city’s false contention that the site cannot be developed. Our city leadership has not shown much interest in this partnership, maybe due to the mindset that they need to control everything.
Wouldn’t it better to have the Larry Miller Group to take the upfront financial and environmental risks of such a project instead of saddling Park City taxpayers with them?
Please urge the Park City government to do the right thing and designate the 22 acres called Gordo as protected land that guards the valuable open space and entry views at the gateway to our city. Stop pretending that a park-and-ride at Gordo will do anything to relieve the congestion on S.R. 248. Then enter into discussions with the Larry Miller Group for sensible parking and affordable housing development at Richardson Flat.
Dianne Walker
Park City