Deer Valley’s petition for Park City to vacate public right-of-way on a portion of Deer Valley Drive was on the city council agenda Thursday, but it was continued to a later meeting.
The delays have been constant in recent months, as the mayor and members of the city council have been privately negotiating with Deer Valley leadership.
Councilmember Jeremy Rubell asked Thursday why the right-of-way vote continues to be scheduled for meetings, despite the inaction. Worel said it’s because of public notice requirements.
“If we close the public hearing, it’s going to take three weeks to get back on an agenda,” Worel said. “We wanted to be nimble and we wanted to be flexible so that we can, once we do have some details that we can share with the public.”
The mayor also had a message for residents, most of whom have been opposed to Deer Valley’s development plans.
The city council has had 15 public meetings on the Snow Park project in the last 16 months. In addition to that, Worel said they’ve received hundreds of emails and engaged in countless informal conversations around town.
“We’ve even received an alternative plan from Protect The Loop,” she added. “Through that process, the council and I have heard the voice of the Park City community and their collective priorities loud and clear.”
The mayor said the city will continue to press for those priorities in its negotiations with Deer Valley, which she said have been “difficult.”
“Including the need to mitigate downstream effects of the proposed redevelopment on our local community, reduce the number of cars coming into our city at peak times while expanding our regional transportation infrastructure to help alleviate congestion, and increase the availability of affordable housing so people can live near where they work."
Worel said she hopes to have new information to share before the end of the year.
“We’re optimistic that we are making progress on our community’s priorities as our city moves forward to a bolder and brighter future that works for everyone.”
On Thursday the city council pushed the public hearing for Deer Valley’s petition to Nov. 16.
After that, the council has two more scheduled meetings before the end of the year.
