The award is named for the late John C. Green, who served as Park City’s mayor from 1978 to 1986.
Strachan grew up in Park City, and later served on the City Planning Commission for 10 years, some of that time as chairman.
He now chairs the city’s Planning Appeals Board, which has convened on recent controversies like the Prince residential building in Old Town.
Rory Murphy, who nominated Strachan for the Rotary honor, served with him on the planning commission.
Murphy said Strachan was knowledgeable, thoughtful and, he joked, maybe the only one who read the background material.
“He was the undisputed leader and visionary of that commission, bar none. Adam knew what he was talking about,” Murphy said. “He never made a rash decision, never got emotional, never got upset at the applicant, unlike me, who frequently got upset at the applicant.”
The audience also heard reminiscences from Ski Utah President Nathan Rafferty and the honoree’s father, long-time Utah attorney Gordon Strachan.
Murphy said the Strachans, father and son, have a long record of defending Utah ski resorts in court and that’s good news for the resort customer.
“The reason you guys don’t pay $10,000 a day for ski tickets is that guy sitting right there and that guy sitting right there. And that’s the truth," Murphy said referring to the father, son duo.
"Plus, he defends the Park City Ski and Snowboard Association. He’s the guy that keeps all of these frivolous lawsuits down to a dull roar as opposed to overwhelming what is the economic foundation of our town. And that’s pretty important,” Murphy added.
Accepting the award, Strachan told the Rotary group it means a lot to him.
“There’s a saying that it takes five compliments to counter one insult. I think this is probably worth about a thousand compliments,” Strachan said.
Strachan and Rotary’s Professional Citizen of the Year, National Ability Center program manager Tracy Meier, will appear as grand marshals in the Sept. 2 Miner’s Day Parade on Main Street.
