In a 3-1 vote Wednesday night, the Park City Planning Commission granted an appeal by four residents of an earlier decision to approve an application for lift upgrades at Park City Mountain Resort.
Commissioners Laura Suesser, John Kenworthy and Bill Johnson voted to grant the appeal, while Sarah Hall was opposed. Commissioner Christin Van Dine chose to abstain from the vote because she did not participate in part of last week’s meeting where the appeal was also discussed. Chair John Phillips only votes to break a tie.
The commissioners ultimately decided that the application to upgrade the Silverlode lift to an eight-person chair and replace the Eagle and Eaglet lifts with one six-person chair was not included in the mountain upgrade plan that was part of the 1998 development agreement that governs the resort.
Normally, chairlift upgrades would be voted on by the planning commission, but the development agreement the city signed with PCMR’s then-owners states that lift upgrades that are covered by the resort’s mountain upgrade plan are subject to administrative approval. Park City Planning Director Gretchen Milliken granted administrative approval of the upgrades in April.
Commissioner Laura Suesser explained her vote on Wednesday night.
“I agree with granting the appeal because the [administrative conditional use permit] did not meet criteria number one in the development agreement as the application was not consistent with the mountain upgrade plan, because the lift upgrade locations were not within the lift upgrade alignments identified in the MUP, and the newly proposed lift upgrades did not go to the meadow, and the new proposal removed two lifts and left 3 Kings, rather than replacing 3 Kings as contemplated in the MUP,” she said.
Commissioners also determined that the application also violated the requirement in the development agreement that adequate parking or other plans be in place to lessen the impacts of lift upgrades.
The resort did announce that a paid parking plan would be in place at the start of next winter, but that was not enough for the planning commission.
Commissioners were also not satisfied with the resort's comfortable carrying capacity calculations and how they related to the plans for paid parking. Commissioner John Kenworthy said he wants to see more robust parking plans in the future.
“I found that the paid parking mitigation used comparables that weren’t satisfactory," said Kenworthy. "I find that Alta and Beaver Creek just aren’t comparable to what we have here as a community, as well as access and controls on parking and mitigation.”
The resort hopes to install the lift upgrades before the start of next winter, but the granting of the appeal stops that progress.
Wednesday’s decision can be challenged in district court. Park City Mountain Resort can also re-apply to the city for the lift upgrades.
Commissioner John Kenworthy disclosed before Wednesday’s discussion that one of the appellants, Mark Stemler, intends to seek a temporary restraining order regardless of the planning commission’s decision.
In a statement sent to KCPW following the vote, PCMR Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh said she was disappointed and confused by the commissions decision. Her statement read, in part:
Those opposed to these important enhancements to the guest experience have created a false narrative that the replacement of aged infrastructure with modernized lifts will draw crowds. Chairlift tourism does not exist – skiers and riders just want to spend more time on Park City Mountain’s vast terrain and less time in line. Investment in infrastructure is a critical part of the guest experience at Park City Mountain – and we are deeply disappointed that the City is now blocking that investment at the last minute.
We are considering our options and next steps based on today's disappointing decision – but one thing is clear – we will not be able to move forward with these two lift upgrades for the 22/23 winter season. And that should be a disappointing outcome for everyone who loves to ski and ride at Park City Mountain.
