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Council Puts Off Decision On Pinnacle Subdivision Of Promontory

Summit County

The Summit County Council on Wednesday said they cannot vote at this point to approve a change, increasing house sizes for a 36-lot subdivision, Pinnacle, in the Promontory development.

Council members said the project needs to do more to address the need for affordable housing. Meanwhile, Promontory CEO Francis Najafi pled his case, citing the financial benefits to the county from a project approved nearly 20 years ago.

The Council put off a decision, asking the applicants to negotiate further with the staff and a sub-committee of two Council members.

The Council is being asked to amend the Promontory Development Agreement to increase the maximum house size from 8000 to 22,000 square feet in the Pinnacle, plus allowing the lots to have accessory structures.

Najafi said he regards the request as minor fine-tuning in a Development Approval given to Promontory in 2001 for a total of 1674 units.

Citing a fact sheet, Najafi noted that Promontory has generated $160 million in property tax, $99 million in employee wages, $3 million in sales taxes from amenities, and $3 million in Agriculture Preservation fees paid to the county. He said Promontory’s foundation has supported local non-profits while the project is providing trails and protecting open space and wildlife.

Promontory’s affordable-housing obligation has been 37 units. Two of those have been built, and the rest have been transferred to the South Pointe property near Brown’s Canyon. Najafi said they have offered to increase the units from 35 to 40, with the units created over the next five years.

But Council Members said they’re being asked to re-open the Development Agreement, and affordable housing is a bigger priority than years ago. Council member Kim Carson said Promontory’s offer isn’t very much compared to what they’ve seen from other recent developments.

“Thirty-five units of affordable housing for the type of development that you’ve created is woefully inadequate,” Carson explained. “As you can see, Silver Creek Village has 330. And then Discovery is a very small project. And even they’re coming up with 33.”

Carson said that it’s a problem for Promontory as well, if service workers have a hard time finding housing in the area.

Council Member Doug Clyde also said that something significant has to happen on affordable housing.

“I mean frankly, constituents have asked me, flat out, Why would you even consider this?,” Clyde said. “Why would you allow somebody to build 36 McMansions up there? What is in it for the county. And we don’t just do things for taxes. Your general comment about Promontory’s contribution is I think well understood.”

He added the proposed square footage for a Pinnacle house is approaching the size of the Montage at Empire Pass. And while Promontory has generated a lot of tax revenue, he noted, that could be said of t lot of projects in the area.

Council Member Chris Robinson took a somewhat different stance from his colleagues, and he was more mindful of Promontory’s original approval in 2001.

“I think we’re perfectly on solid ground to suggest that there is some affordable housing that needs to be provided,” Robinson continued. “I’m not sure that to get 36 units of density in this fashion that we should un-ring the bell that was rung when this development agreement was signed, completely and have them go to today’s standard on the remaining homes. I think that would be a huge—first of all, I can’t see them doing it for this quantity. And secondly, I don’t think it’s fair.”

In response, Najafi said that under Promontory’s current approval, he could plat the Pinnacle land for 110 units. They could create two-lot combinations from those , with a net square footage of 15,000

He said while he’s grateful to be in the Park City community, it’s also been very difficult over the past two decades to make Promontory work economically.

“We have already invested $400 million dollars in the past (inaudible) ….decades,” Najafi explained. “And candidly, we have yet to get a decent return on our capital here. And I’m telling you that very bluntly. So I don’t know why you have an impression that somehow we’re making a ton of money. We’re not. Everybody that knows me, knows this project knows that this has been a passion for me, more than a money-making venture.”

He also said that Promontory’s employees do have housing in the region.

“Most of our employees, quite candidly, are coming from Heber and Kamas and other cities around,” Najafi said. “So, I’m very proud of being a source of employment for people coming from Heber and Kamas and other places. They have housing.”

Najafi said that they have met or exceeded the promises they have made to the county.

“The larger issue, and one quite candidly that I’m disturbed about is the fact that, you perceive that somehow because we’ve been successful that every time I come in front of you you’ve got to extract something from us,” Najafi continued. “That’s very disturbing to me, respectfully. I’m sorry. I apologize. I don’t mean to be disrespectful but, ya know, there was a story about Khruschev every time he came to New York in the Sixties to negotiate he was (inaudible) to say “What’s mine is mine what’s yours is negotiable.” We have done our part for many decades. We continue to do our part. I’m very proud of what we have done here. I’m making no apologies, respectfully for providing a very solid source of employment.”

The Council voted to continue the item until their meeting of August 14th.

A meeting was tentatively set for Friday for the developers to meet with planning staff, and a sub-committee of Council Members Doug Clyde and Chris Robinson.

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.
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