The Park City Planning Commission approved upgrades to Park City Mountain’s Silverlode, Eagle and Eaglet chairlifts May 27. Six Park City-area residents then appealed the decision June 8, arguing the improvements will add to overcrowding and dangerous conditions at the resort.
Now, a Park City administrative hearing officer is set to review the appeal during a virtual hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 16.
The upgrades are set to expand the Silverlode Express from a six-passenger detachable lift to one that carries eight passengers. The 30-year-old Eagle and Eaglet chairlifts will be replaced with a six-passenger detachable chairlift and mid-mountain station.
Appellants say the planning commission unlawfully ignored evidence that the changes would contribute to unsafe and overcrowded conditions on terrain served by Silverlode and Eagle. The appeal says commissioners should factor in resort calculations on how many skiers and riders the mountain can manage.
That’s called the resort’s comfortable carrying capacity, or CCC, which figured prominently in Park City Mountain’s first attempt to upgrade Silverlode, Eagle and Eaglet in 2022.
Four residents eventually overturned the planning department’s initial approval and kick-started three years of litigation.
This time around, the resort didn’t provide the planning commission with CCC information. City attorney Mark Harrington said it didn’t need to, as Park City Mountain went through a different planning process this year than it did four years ago.
According to Park City, the review is limited to information from planning commission meetings.
New public comments will not be accepted. Only the appellants, Park City Mountain, the city and attorneys for the parties may speak.
Park City Municipal and Vail Resorts’ EpicPromise foundation are financial supporters of KPCW.
