The Park City Council approved a final draft of the Treasure Hill conservation easement March 27 in partnership with the Summit Land Conservancy. It comes years after the city purchased the land, with the help of a voter-approved bond, to prevent the development of condos and hotels on the land that overlooks Old Town.
Summit Land Conservancy Executive Director Cheryl Fox said she’s happy with the final conservation easement agreement.
“It did take much longer than I think anybody really anticipated that it would take,” Fox said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour.” “Once we get a complete draft, I hope that [Park City Mayor Nann Worel] will be able to sign it this week, and then we can record it and it is actually, actually preserved forever.”
The agreement took years to finalize so there could be a comprehensive survey of the land to evaluate various easements and lot lines, Fox said.
The conservation easement includes a provision that recognizes Park City Mountain’s existing rights on the property.
The resort’s Town Lift runs through the Treasure Hill open space. Under the conservation easement, Park City Mountain would be allowed to make upgrades to the lift, like turn it into a gondola.
“The conservation easement is set to protect the view shed from across town,” Fox said. “It’s set to protect public recreational access — so the trails and Sweeney Switchbacks and all of that kind of thing — the relatively natural wildlife habitat, and also the ski resort.”
If Park City Mountain applies with the city to make any changes outside of its existing rights – like building a new lodge – the Summit Land Conservancy would have to approve it, under the requirements in the conservation easement.
Fox said any proposed improvements would be evaluated to see if they align with the conservation values.
“The only time we weigh in is if the proposed use is something really dramatically different,” she said.
In a statement, Park City Mountain COO Deirdra Walsh said the resort “values our community’s shared commitment to conserving this land and admires the work of Summit Land Conservancy, an organization we support through Vail Resorts EpicPromise.”
Park City Municipal spokesperson Clayton Scrivner said Mayor Nann Worel is expected to sign off on the conservation easement later this week.
Park City Municipal and Summit Land Conservancy are financial supporters of KPCW.
