The installation of 5G towers in Park City, an electric bike tag program to reduce tensions on local trails, and a potential change to the city’s land management code are up for discussion at Thursday’s City Council meeting in Park City.
The passage of state Senate Bill 189 in 2018 granted cities the ability to install small wireless facilities required for 5G internet services, the next step up from the current 4G LTE standard. Park City’s City Council will be discussing the placement of 5G hardware in the city on Thursday and will be looking for public input.
Park City Manager Matt Dias says the city is looking to install the 5G equipment throughout Park City in order to provide the best experience possible for residents and guests who use 5G services.
“There’s no reason to site these in just one location over another,” Dias said. “You want to put these around the community so when people are using this type of technology, they’re getting good feeds and quality data and they want to subscribe to the service. I think just kind of isolating in certain pockets of the community doesn’t serve that outcome.”
Dias says although concerns about 5G technology have been raised with the city, Park City cannot deny 5G services based on the frequency levels of the technology -- the authority to do that lies with the Federal Communications Commission. However, the city does get to determine how and where the equipment is installed.
The increasing use of e-bikes on the trails in and around Park City has created tensions between e-bike riders, riders of traditional bicycles and pedestrians.
E-bikes, which utilize an electric motor to speed up acceleration, currently have restricted trail privileges in Park City unless a user is over the age of 65 or has a documented mobility issue. Dias says confusion about the current e-bike policy has led to several confrontations on the trails and a tag program could help the situation.
“We’ve been getting complaints that people can get pretty chippy on the trails when they see someone on an e-bike,” Dias said. “There have been some complaints, there has been some yelling and some screaming and so we think there’s an opportunity to have a voluntary tag program. If you have a mobility issue or you’re over 65 years old, we have a voluntary tag program that if someone does sort of accost you on the trail, if someone does start screaming at you, you’ll have some information, you’ll have a tag on your bike and we think that will reduce some of that tension.”
City council will also be discussing an $8,500 contract for the Cascadia Partners group to look into changes to the city’s land management code regarding building height and parking requirements for future affordable housing developments. Dias says the potential changes could further incentivize the construction of affordable housing in Park City.
“This $8,500 change order is to do that additional analysis on building heights and parking analysis within our code about how we could be more flexible with those in order to generate or obtain more community affordable housing.”
Thursday’s city council meeting begins at 4 p.m. and will be held virtually via Zoom.
