According to a report released by city hall ahead of Wednesday’s Park City Planning Commission meeting, a work session was scheduled for a proposal to redevelop a portion of Park City’s Iron Horse business district. But the applicant has told KPCW they pulled the project from this week's agenda.
The report says the proposal is to turn the western three acres of the district into approximately 150,000 square feet of residential units, 4,300 square feet of retail and office space, and 3,000 square feet of restaurant space. 184 underground parking stalls are also included.
Local developer Rory Murphy is representing longtime landowners Charlie and Mary Wintzer in the project. He said the Wintzers aren't in any hurry to develop the land and wanted more time to clarify some details of their application before presenting to the planning commission.
“I wouldn’t even say disagreements, just some things that we thought we had represented better and, clearly, we hadn’t," Murphy said. "After you read the staff report, you’re going ‘um, that’s not quite what we meant.’ It’s more clarification of those points, and they’re not major, but we feel that it’s important to do it and have the material be right.”
Murphy did not give specifics on what needed further clarification, but indicated that the breakdown of square footage between residential, commercial, and restaurant space was one element being considered. He added that the amount of affordable housing is also part of the equation.
The land is currently occupied by several large storage units and a handful of local businesses, including Park City Ski Boot and Podium Ski Service.
Murphy said the proposal does not affect any businesses south of Iron Horse Drive, and the majority of businesses north of the road will not be affected either. Businesses in the eastern portion of Iron Horse include Windy Ridge Cafe and Offset Bier.
The land is also directly south of the city-owned Homestake lot, which is being developed into a sizable housing project with affordable and market rate units.
Development of any kind in Park City has been under a microscope in recent years as the city has prioritized increasing affordable housing and the preservation of open space. Murphy said while he expects the same amount of scrutiny as any development project, he thinks the location of the project in a more industrial area and the fact that the Wintzers will not be asking for any building height or setback exceptions could make this project more appealing than others that have come before the city.
“I don’t think that the land itself and where it’s located and what’s currently on it – primarily storage sheds – I don’t think people have a lot of emotion about that," he said. "It’s not a pristine hillside that we’re gonna tear up and it’s an area that’s obviously surrounded by existing development.”
Although Murphy said he doesn’t have an exact timetable for when the proposal will make it back on a planning commission agenda, he said a realistic answer would be sometime in the next one to two months.
