After nearly two years of planning commission meetings, Park City Mountain Resort’s vision to reimagine its base area parking lots and build condos, retail space, and lodging will get a public hearing.
Scheduled for March 23rd, the meeting will be the first for the project that has not been a work session. The public will be able to comment on the full project, and it will also be the first time a possible vote has been on the agenda.
However, planning commissioners indicated that a vote is unlikely to happen in March because of lingering questions about the project’s parking and transit plans.
Parking and transit were the focus of Wednesday night’s meeting, with the developer, PEG Companies, and PCMR presenting a new off-site parking plan. The proposal would utilize several different satellite parking lots in Park City, Canyons Village, Kimball Junction, and Jeremy Ranch and use public transit to get people to the resort. The proposal also included a $5.3 million contribution to the city to purchase three new city buses and pay for their operation.
Vail Director of Community Development Kara Bowyer said the resort heard the commission’s concerns about its previous plan, which relied heavily on a yet-to-be-built park and ride at Quinns Junction. The resort is now looking at utilizing other parking lots in the area.
“Immediately after the December meeting, we began identifying alternative locations," said Bowyer. 'We looked to locations that we could guarantee delivery of with as much certainty as possible in predicting the future.”
The resort’s proposal also included a new skier drop-off plan that would have visitors dropped off at the resort-owned Munchkin Lot on Bonanza Drive before a shuttle takes them to the base area.
Commissioner John Kenworthy said while he appreciates the resort’s willingness to chip in and help with additional transit costs, he wants to see the resort be more creative than relying so heavily on Park City and Summit County transit infrastructure.
“I want to make it clear to everybody that the city has zero obligation to own PEG’s or Vail’s mitigation requirements," he said. "Zero. By far, we need more cooperation and brains than we need the money.”
Under the city’s land management code, 1,100 parking spots in addition to the 1,200 currently at the base area would be required for a project of this size, but PEG and the resort are asking for an exception in exchange for their off-site parking proposal. City staff has indicated a willingness to consider the parking exception at past meetings because of the city’s goal of reducing the number of cars on the road and getting more people onto buses.
Commissioner Sarah Hall said she believes the current plans are insufficient to justify granting the parking exception.
“Conceptually, I would like the modal shift," said Hall. "Conceptually, I would like to give a waiver for this parking because having an enhanced resort center with an enhanced transit system would make the community better and would make the resort base function. But as currently proposed, I just feel like it’s really deficient.”
PEG and the resort are expected to return with an amended parking proposal at the March meeting.
