Thursday afternoon, the Park City Council will review council rules, protocols, and assignments to city boards before diving into a work session on a housing deed restriction pilot program aimed at discouraging short term rentals.
Dubbed the “Live Park City Lite Deed Restriction Program,” the project would offer homeowners around 15-20% of their properties’ value in exchange for putting in place permanent deed restrictions. That would prevent those properties from ever entering the short-term rental market, even if they are sold.
The previous council was enthusiastic about the project and had allocated $1 million to fund the pilot program last fall. It also indicated the project could start early this year.
City Manager Matt Dias said even though the last council was supportive of the idea, Park City has three new councilors and a new mayor. He said he wanted to give the new administration a chance to poke around and ask questions before giving the go-ahead to move forward.
“We did all this work with the previous council, they were very excited about it," said Dias. "We had heard about it on city tours and the Colorado Association of Ski Towns, and so we had done a considerable amount of work, probably three or four work sessions, but we’re not seeking action on Thursday evening. Given we have three new councilmembers and a new mayor, we decided to just have a work session and allow this new group to poke and prod and ask their questions before coming in and just seeking affirmation that this is the way we want to move forward.”
Later during the regular meeting, the council will also consider approving the subdivision of the film studio property in Quinns Junction in preparation for a proposed affordable housing project.
Originally planned as a film-industry complex to complement the existing film studio, property owner Crandall Capital is now proposing a sizable housing development at the site, with a mix of affordable and market rate units.
Dias said the approval on Thursday is only to subdivide the land, not discuss details of the project like the number of housing units or how many will be offered as affordable housing.
“That is not necessarily tied to the zone change to seek more affordable housing and less commercial uses out there," he said. "That will come back in a subsequent item when the applicant submits that.”
When Crandall Capital does request a zone change for the land, that will head to the Park City Planning Commission before coming to the council for final approval.
Thursday’s meeting starts at 3:45. It will be both in-person at City Hall on Marsac Avenue and online. Details on how to participate and a link to the full agenda can be found here.
