Local Park City business owner Max Doilney will join the Park City Council as its newest member at the start of the new year.
Voters elected Max Doilney to the Park City Council in November. Doilney takes the place of outgoing Councilmember Lynn Ware Peek, who opted not to run for a full term.
Looking ahead to his term in office, two large development items will likely come before Doilney: the Deer Valley Resort base and Park City Mountain Resort base developments. Doilney’s businesses, the Corner Store and Corner Store Pub and Grill, sit at the base of Park City Mountain Resort. Doilney says many businesses will be impacted by that development, which is why community business owners and organizations need to be considered.
“That's my main priority is making sure that the RFPs [request for proposals] that go out have local businesses in mind, have transportation and affordable housing in mind first, rather than having those be the ugly stepchild of the development," Doilney said. "So those things, I don't think I don't stand apart from other businesses in town, in that sense. We're all impacted by how Vail and how Alterra operate, and that includes me.”
Since announcing his candidacy this spring, Doilney has spent a lot of time at council meetings and talking with community members. As the only new councilmember, Doilney says he hopes to learn from the others, but he also has an idea of issues he wants to address during his term.
“That interaction between locals and tourists, that's going to be where transportation, parking and social equity come into play, and those are huge pieces for me,” Doilney said.
Throughout Park City’s Vision 2020 process, community members have expressed a desire for “bold change.” To Doilney, that looks like not bending to pressure from people who are unhappy with changes the city council implements.
“If seven out of 10 people in a room are saying go left, I'm going left," Doilney said. "And if those other three people are disappointed, you know, speak up, get more involved, get six or seven or 10 more people that feel your way to come to the table. But right now we're going with the majority, and we're going to make moves that not everybody's going to be happy with.”
Doilney will be sworn in, alongside re-elected Councilmembers Nann Worel and Becca Gerber, on Jan. 7.
