The Park City Council approved an ordinance for the Kings Crown Workforce Housing project, which will provide seven units of affordable and eight units of attainable housing on Lowell Avenue. The 15 units will contribute to the city’s larger goal of 800 units by 2026, which the council discussed at length during its annual retreat last week.
At the retreat, Councilmember Becca Gerber said she felt strongly that the city should prioritize building housing projects within city limits, to help foster community engagement among residents in Park City proper.
“If we are going to use tax dollars from Park City, we should use those tax dollars to create future citizens of Park City," Gerber said. "People that can participate in our school boards, and our Park City boards and commissions, and that can really help make sure that we have people in our neighborhoods and create that feeling of a true community.”
But with Park City’s commitment to preserving open lands, there isn’t much green space left to develop for housing. Gerber says the city is trying to balance those two interests, and going forward, it might be handled like the Clark Ranch purchase, where most of the parcel was designated for open space and a portion was carved out for future projects. The city will also look into redeveloping buildings in town.
“We don’t want to create sprawl, and we don’t want to build into our open lands—those are beautiful areas that we all cherish and value in our community," Gerber said. "There are going to be lots of opportunities for redevelopment within the city, so it’s going to be a lot of working with our community partners to figure out where the best opportunities are as we move into the future.”
Gerber says the city will make the best use it can of the Arts and Culture District and the Homestake Lot for housing.
