The home construction on Saddle View Way above the Snow Creek shopping center has caused controversy in recent months due to the home breaking over the nearby ridgeline. A public briefing on the issue has been postponed until after an appeal on the building permit is heard by the city.
Although construction on the home on Saddle View Way was approved by Park City Municipal over a year ago, city officials claim a clerical error is to blame for the building violating the city’s ridgeline height ordinance.
KPCW reported in July that the owners of the 955 Saddle View property did receive an elevation certificate from the city when the foundation of the home was laid in initial construction. Although the building plans did meet the city’s overall height requirement, the city did not consider the ridgeline height ordinance.
Park City’s City Council requested a briefing on the issue at their next council meeting September 17th, as well as a constituent briefing via Zoom by the end of August.
However, Park City Municipal says a neighbor has filed an appeal of the approval of the building permit and the briefing will have to be postponed until after the appeal is heard.
Park City Planning Director Bruck Erickson told KPCW the upper level of the home has been removed from the building permit but the city and property owners are still working through other technical issues with the site.
“The approvals given were that lot six, which is where this house sits, was approved and outside the sensitive land’s 150 feet setback from the ridgeline and so it appeared that the height met the ridgeline requirements,” he said. “And then, the plat required that additional viewpoints be reviewed before a building permit was issued -- so a second review of the sensitive lands.”
Erickson said even though a review of additional viewpoints was required, there was nothing that indicated viewpoints from the South would be affected.
“The viewpoints are all established West of the site, they’re not necessarily established North of the site so the only one North of the site is the park by the water treatment plant off Meadows Drive and the Olympic Park in the barn meadow,” he added. “There’s almost nothing that required a visual analysis from the South. The planner at the time made the determination that the house met the height requirements and could proceed and now we’re trying to work through how we got here.”
In a press release, the city did recognize the disappointment this situation has caused residents and said Park City Municipal is considering potential changes to the city’s land management code to further clarify ridgeline and vantage point definitions.
Editor's note: A previous version of this report stated the property owner filed the appeal, when it was actually a neighbor.
