The Park City Planning Commission got a thorough look at the proposed development to the base of Park City Mountain Resort at their meeting this week. The development would greatly expand lodging options at the resort.
This week’s public hearing focused on potentially replacing the original Park City Mountain Resort Master Plan Study Concept with a new one that is more modern and reflects the current and future needs of the base area of PCMR.
The area to be developed is the North end of the resort’s base area and would replace the current surface-level parking lots with affordable and employee housing, condominiums, a hotel, and retail space. Parking would still be at the base area, it would just be moved underground to large lots beneath the development.
The development of the current parking lots at PCMR has been approved for years -- the original 1998 site plan also included proposals to build on the parking lots -- but last year’s sale of the 10 acres to Provo-based PEG Development kickstarted the project into high gear and the public got its first look at the project earlier this year.
The four parcels to be developed, called parcel B, C, D, and E in the plans, would wrap around the current base area, as well as the Shadow Ridge and Silver King buildings. PEG hopes to break ground on Parcel B, which is the current lot between Shadow Ridge Road and Manor Way, next spring.
Construction would be done in phases and the current schedule lists a project completion date of January 2026, barring any setbacks.
The commission discussed PEG’s proposal and ultimately asked the developer to further clarify the architectural aspects of the plan and provide more justification for requests for exemptions to building setbacks and maximum height requirements. The commission decided to further discuss the proposed new master plan once these requests have been met on September 23rd.
Comments from the public raised concerns about proposed building heights and future parking issues as well. Community member Nancy Lazenby urged caution when deciding on a hard timeline for the project as well as a need for a smart solution to parking during construction.
“If the only obstacle to putting all this parking under parking lots C, D, and E is the challenge of time, then let’s address that,” she said. “Let’s find a short-term solution so that we’re not faced with decades of a bad resort.”
Commissioner John Kenworthy also added his desire to provide on-mountain affordable housing and also acknowledged a future parking space problem that must be worked out.
“I want to make a point that the affordable housing on-site is important,” said Kenworthy. “Putting it outside of the town or on some other part of town, it’s just not just. It is the right thing to do. Parcel B, that’s the puzzle. No doubt about it.”
The Planning Commission will also discuss the transportation aspect of the proposal at their September 9th meeting.
Additional business conducted this week included a work session to discuss potential amendments to the Park City Land Management Code to allow for more transportation and walkability integration for future development projects. The commission expressed a willingness to make those changes but no decisions were made as the session was for discussion and feedback only.
The Park City Planning Commission meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. The next commission meeting is scheduled for September 9th.
