I think the elected officials in Park City and Summit County should go back to school for Economics 101. While there, they should pay specific attention to the concept of “supply and demand” which is the bedrock principle of modern economics and capitalism.

Gov. Cox, for all his flaws, understands this concept. When talking about the price of housing in Park City and Summit County, he offered up this brilliant bit of insight: “When you have demand far outpacing the supply, we’re just going to see prices continue to go up.”

It’s hard to believe that this benign comment, which is so obvious to anyone paying attention, could be considered in any way controversial. Housing prices in Park City and Summit County are high because our local government has been captured by the all-powerful NIMBY lobby, which refuses to allow supply-side solutions to address issues with housing demand. 

Local officials have tried nothing and seem to be out of ideas on how to address the housing issue. You cannot address housing shortages by solely pushing for more deed-restricted affordable housing, because that only subsidizes demand instead of addressing supply.

Another proposal would consider placing more stringent restrictions on Short Term Rentals (STRs). This, however, fails to address the reason why STRs have become so widespread: There are more people that want to visit Park City than there are available hotel rooms. With this imbalance in the market, private homeowners are stepping up to absorb the excess demand. Banning STRs would not decrease demand to visit Park City, so prices for existing hotel rooms would rise until equilibrium has been met.

The smarter response to curbing the proliferation of STRs would be to construct more hotels. Not only would building more hotel rooms increase our tax base, but it would allow units that were formerly STRs to return to the general housing pool, increasing the supply of housing available to locals.

A third idea, which I’ve seen proposed on these very pages and vocalized by members local elected officials, would force Vail and Alterra to recreate the company towns of yesteryear somewhere on the outskirts, so entitled Parkites don’t have to look at the service workers who make this town run.

It is not those corporations’ responsibility to shoulder the burden of creating housing when our local government says “NO” to any proposal that would substantially increase the number of available housing units in Park City. 

If housing affordability is truly a goal of Summit County progressives, we should embrace housing policies that attempt to increase supply in order to meet demand and ignore the protestations of the NIMBY cabal. Failure to do so will cede the high ground on housing policy to Gov. Cox and the regressive Utah Legislature.

The Legislature has already shown a willingness to supersede local land use authority as evidenced by its aggressive actions in favor of the proposed Dakota Pacific development at the Tech Center, and it will only grow more emboldened if we don’t change course.

Housing abundance, not reflexive NIMBYism, is the path forward.

This is a golden opportunity for Summit County and Park City to lead the way as an example to the rest of the state on how to embrace the abundance agenda and build housing for all.

The post Guest editorial: NIMBYs 1, affordability 0 appeared first on Park Record.

I just returned from a delightful family trip to Moab (pop. 5,303) and was shocked by the vibrant food scene that town has. Moab’s tourist economy is not all that dissimilar from Park City’s (pop. 8,467), yet Moab seems to have figured out how to have a diverse dining scene, whereas dining in Park City is monotonous, mundane, and expensive. I think we can do better.

A healthy food scene is a sign of a healthy community, but dining in Park City is moribund. Menus at our most well known restaurants are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Prices are through the roof. And none of our restaurants can even be remotely considered to be serving the community. Food is something that brings everyone together, from the wealthiest among us to the seasonal workers that keep our town running, but Park City seems to have turned its back on cultivating this key cultural cornerstone. In fact, our town is doing everything it can to throw up roadblocks to innovators who wish to change that, which is why I was extremely dismayed that Versante was denied the approvals it needed to continue to operate its “On the Lawn” concept.

On the Lawn is exactly the kind of experimentation Park City needs to give its dining scene a shot in the arm. Operated out of a food truck, Versante On the Lawn is a great place for Parkites to come together and dine outdoors in a communal setting. On the Lawn serves pizza, a food that transcends class. And On the Lawn, when compared to other dining options in town, is more affordable than most. On the Lawn should not just be allowed to operate but we should be exploring ways to create more operations like it.

The food scene in Moab, with its diversity of options and price points, is a good reminder of what can be possible here. It is not the government’s job to decide what a restaurant can have on its menu, but the government does play a role in creating the conditions to have a diverse and thriving food culture. The town government should be exploring ways to diversify Park City’s food culture without letting bureaucratic red tape get in the way. Everything should be on the table from examining ways our zoning code increases costs for restaurants, eliminating red tape, and exploring the feasibility of creating a food truck park like Moab has. Increased competition for diners would help all Park City restaurants from the high end to the low. Cities and towns that are known for their food thrive from the competition, not in spite of it, so let’s legalize dining in Park City to improve the quality of life for residents and give guests something else to rave about when they visit.

The post Guest editorial: Explore ways to diversify Park City’s food culture appeared first on Park Record.