After a two-week hiatus for spring break in Park City, the city council will hold its first regular meeting since April 7th on Thursday.
Starting with a work session at 4:30, the council will revisit the public-private affordable housing project at the Homestake property south of the Boneyard Saloon on Kearns Boulevard.
The council has been split 3-2 on the project after three new councilors took office in January. Councilors Becca Gerber, Max Doilney, and Ryan Dickey have been in favor of moving forward, while Tana Toly and Jeremy Rubell have expressed concerns about the project's location, parking, and integration into the surrounding area.
The council narrowly voted to continue work on the project at meetings in January and March. City Manager Matt Dias said Thursday’s work session is to address some of the council’s lingering questions.
“Now, we have some further definition in the tenant selection, or potential tenant selection criteria," Dias said. "We need to talk about do they want to just park the project as is or do they want to provide some more community parking. There’s some questions about deepening the rates for rentals, and then finally we have definition on the potential for 120 units at this location, 80% of which would be an affordable rental at the 60% [Area Median Income] rate.”
Also being discussed on Thursday is the possible addition of 5,000 square feet of commercial space to the project.
Dias said the businesses that could fill that space would be meant to serve the people who live there. He said similar commercial spaces are found in housing developments across the country and could help eliminate short trips around the city for things like groceries, haircuts, or laundry.
“There’s an opportunity here to have a commissary or to have some support commercial to support the residents in that building," said Dias. "Maybe it’s a daycare. There’s a myriad of opportunities, so I think it’s a quality discussion to have with council about is there some space we could dedicate to the residents that live there that really benefit them and only them? This wouldn’t be a drive traffic level of commercial, this would be something to support those residents that live there.”
No votes will be taken on the Homestake project Thursday.
Later on the agenda, White Pine Touring will give the council a 2022 season report. White Pine operates the cross-country skiing operations at the municipal golf course and on land by the McPolin Barn.
Traffic issues in the Thanynes Canyon neighborhood last winter led to some friction with the city and White Pine as parking at the golf course’s driving range often overflowed into residential areas. Dias said the council will look at finding a permanent solution that could alter how people park at the golf course.
“What we’ve uncovered is that we’re likely not in compliance with the development agreement," he said. "The parking that people are used to, what we call the overflow parking area along the driving range, is not expressly permitted, it appears, in the development agreement. I think we’ve got to walk the walk. We can’t have it both ways, we can’t be requiring things of the private sector and private businesses and property owners and then not requiring the same of ourselves.”
The council will also consider contracts for noxious weed control and a community wildfire risk assessment plan, each costing over $230,000.
A vote is also expected on changes to the city’s land management code for private pickleball courts.
Thursday’s meeting will be both in person at City Hall and online via Facebook and Zoom. A link to the full agenda and details on how to participate can be found here.
