On Wednesday the Park City Planning Commission voted 3-1 to approve a permit for the district to build a new sports complex on the junior high school site along with other additions to Dozier Field.
Treasure Mountain is scheduled to be demolished later this year. In its place will be a baseball field, a softball field, two soccer fields and eight tennis courts, along with support facilities and nearly 100 parking spaces.
The project plans also include a new 13,000 square-foot building on the north end of Dozier Field and another “gateway” building at its entrance. Other improvements include expanding the bleachers and resurfacing the track around the field.
Commissioner Laura Suesser voted against the permit. She criticized the location of the tennis courts on the northern section of the Treasure Mountain property, which is closer to homes in Park Meadows.
The permit does not allow pickleball, due to noise concerns. But Suesser questioned if the school district will request to allow pickleball in the future.
“Because if pickleball is ever allowed on these courts, it would be very disruptive, I think, to the sanctuary there in the back,” Suesser said.
Gina Rossi was one of several residents of Lucky John Drive, which runs along the north end of the school district campus, to speak out against the project.
“What is being built is damaging our property values,” Rossi said. “It is decreasing quality of life. And it does not need to be that way.”
The residents criticized the school district’s lack of communication about the project, and said they haven’t returned any requests to provide feedback on the proposal. A contingent also showed up at the school board meeting Tuesday to express their discontent.
Some blame was put on former school district chief operating officer Mike Tanner, who led construction projects before his position was eliminated by the district last week.
School district spokesperson Colton Elliott told KPCW the project has been a standing item at monthly board meetings since August 2024, which include opportunities for public comment.
“We’ll continue to listen and collaborate with our Lucky John neighbors, as well as the broader Park City community. It’s important to note that Park City School District’s current athletic facilities fall short when compared to those in many other Utah school districts,” Elliott said. “As for public access to the new facilities, PCSD has existing interlocal agreements in place, which will be reviewed and updated as needed to maintain strong partnerships with the broader Park City community. Regarding pickleball, while it is not currently included in the approved permit, that conversation remains open. We will continue to evaluate how emerging needs and interests align with the long-term goals of our plan.”
Commissioner John Frontero sympathized with the neighbors’ concerns and expressed some hesitancy about moving forward.
“I would be concerned if we went through and voted on this, only to find out at a later date that perhaps the school district or Mr. Tanner perhaps did not notify the public properly,” Frontero said. “I’m not certain that rushing to make a decision is necessarily our best path.”
But city attorney Mark Harrington said that’s not the planning commission’s role.
“We have to distinguish between school district notice and our notice,” Harrington said. “The only thing that’s properly before you is the city notice, and there is nothing but confirmation that that was properly noticed… It’s simply not within this board’s power to delay action based on what a different jurisdiction did or didn’t do.”
The permit approved Wednesday also includes conditions that all lights at the sports complex must be dark sky compliant and turned off no later than 11 p.m.
Park City school board vice president Nick Hill said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Thursday the district hopes to install the baseball and softball fields this year.
