© 2024 KPCW

KPCW
Spencer F. Eccles Broadcast Center
PO Box 1372 | 460 Swede Alley
Park City | UT | 84060
Office: (435) 649-9004 | Studio: (435) 655-8255

Music & Artist Inquiries: music@kpcw.org
News Tips & Press Releases: news@kpcw.org
Volunteer Opportunities
General Inquiries: info@kpcw.org
Listen Like a Local Park City & Heber City Summit & Wasatch counties, Utah
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Snyderville Planning Commission Approves Home Business In Silver Summit

The Snyderville Planning Commission Tuesday night voted an approval for a home-based business in Silver Summit. But it looked for a while like the proposal might fail due to gridlock. The first motion to approve it resulted in a three to three tie.

One Snyderville Commissioner was absent. So, a six-member panel convened to consider the application, from Scot Erickson, for a Low Impact Permit for a massage therapy business with a single operator, on Richmond Drive.

To mitigate impacts, Erickson said he will operate from 9:00 am to 12:30, four days a week; would take at most four clients a day; and customers would park in their driveway.

In a public hearing, Kym McClelland said he and his wife were the first residents in Silver Summit, and they’re concerned about the commercial precedent in what has always been a residential area.

He also talked about traffic impacts.

“I think traffic is a potential issue although it’s only four hours a day and maybe that’s four cars a day. If you spend any time in that neighborhood it’s not really a thoroughfare. It’s just a neighborhood and the people that are in there are either the families that live in the homes, people coming to visit, friends, of that nature. I think when you introduce a commercial element to that neighborhood. You take four cars a day times 300 plus days a year and all of the sudden you have 1,200 cars. That aren’t neighbors who are particularly interested in the families, the kids, what’s going on there. It’s a commercial business and I think they lose sight and have less of a vested interest in what goes on in the neighborhood than the people who live there.”

His wife Judy added that the neighborhood has no sidewalks, so residents are walking and children playing in the streets. The planning staff also reported opposition e-mails from about half-a-dozen other neighbors.

But the project was also supported by Erickson’s friends and clients. Debby Seaver said the impacts won’t be a problem.

“It is the second, maybe the third house in so cars are not going to be driving past 14 homes or whatever they mentioned. They would be coming straight from the thoroughfare that goes to the park into Scot’s house. I know a lot of massage therapists, piano teachers, tutors, all sorts of people who work out of their homes without getting permits that would typically be after-hours. The times that Scot’s asking for the kids aren’t going to be playing in the streets because they’re at school. Even with the different school times 9:00am-12:30pm is not when kids are out of school. Scot himself has a young daughter who’s going to be playing so he’s obviously concerned about that. The kind of people who would be getting massages would not be speeding down streets. They’re calm, mellow, relaxed after their massage, they’re nice people.”

As Planning Commissioners deliberated, the proposal got stuck on the question of whether the approval should have an added condition against idling by customers. The tie vote on a motion to approve meant the proposal could not move forward.

One of the Naye votes, John Kucera, said he didn’t think a condition on idling was a major requirement.

“I think it’s a reasonable enough issue. It’s not that limiting for the applicant. I know that a lot of people you go to things early and leave your car on. I think that’s a byproduct that shouldn’t be there and basically requesting them to follow the county ordinance that we already have in place. As an issue to that it would be potential to their business if it’s not followed. People are idling every day, I think it small.”
Planning Commission Chair Bea Peck said she didn’t know how the requirement could be carried out.

“I don’t know how you enforce that. I don’t know how to identify who’s idling. I don’t know that its necessarily the client that’s idling it could be a member of the household is parked in the driveway. It could be a neighbor who’s parked in the driveway. I think that’s an unreasonable condition to try to impose. I don’t think it really is necessary and is a condition that needs to be mitigated. We want to mitigate emissions, but this probably isn’t the driveway to make the test case.”

But Thomas Cooke, another dissenter, said if the applicant is going to use his driveway as a place of business, it makes sense to curb idling there.

“A neighbor on that street doesn’t have any control of who comes into the neighborhood to park in the driveway to patronize the business. It’s a little bit of a double standard, I think. If you say, hey there’s only going to be a few people a day and I’m going to tell them as part of my ability to have clients here you can’t idle in my driveway done deal.”

The third Naye vote came from Joel Fine. He told KPCW he was concerned about mitigating the number of clients at the business.

Scot Erickson said he would stop idling as much as he could. Peck also pointed out that with the county’s current anti-idling law, violators are just given a citation.

A motion to Reconsider had to come from one of those voting Naye. Kucera made the motion.

In the end, the Low Impact Permit was approved 5 to 1 with the dissenting vote from Thomas Cooke.

Known for getting all the facts right, as well as his distinctive sign-off, Rick covered Summit County meetings and issues for 35 years on KPCW. He now heads the Friday Film Review team.
Related Content