Park City owns a 5-acre parcel at Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard—the now-vacant Maverik gas station—that it hopes to redevelop.
Surrounding it is the much larger Bonanza Park neighborhood. Parts of the wider area may be redeveloped too, so city officials are planning for how to improve the entire area long-term.
“We're looking for a locally centered and focused district that's walkable, that's bikeable, that's safe, that has pathways that actually bury some of the parking—or even under-parks it—and tries to achieve bringing people here in a different way,” City Manager Matt Dias said.
His staff is presenting the city council with the Bonanza Park small area plan July 11, which proposes amendments to city ordinances to achieve those goals.
The new rules include a density bonus that allows developers to build up 10 extra feet if they offer defined community benefits.
“The hope is that, in exchange for perhaps some more leniency, we are able to achieve a design pattern, a development pattern that for example is less car-centric,” he said, “where it's a strip mall environment.”
The plan grew out of 14 months of dialogue, which involved public open houses, advisory committees and online surveys. It won a unanimous recommendation from the Park City Planning Commission.
If the council adopts the plan, it would open the door for the planning commission to revise the code governing development not just on the 5-acre parcel but other properties nearby.
Several property owners in Bonanza Park have approached the city about redeveloping. That includes the DoubleTree hotel formerly known as The Yarrow, and the area around Iron Horse Drive.
The Bonanza Park small area plan is scheduled for discussion at 4:10 p.m. Thursday, July 11. It’s up for possible approval later in the meeting.
