It was hot enough to wear shorts on the ski lifts at Solitude Mountain Resort, and it hadn’t snowed in a week. Yet, by 10 a.m. on a Wednesday in mid-March, skiers and snowboarders hoping to park in one of the resort’s lots to catch a few quick turns over their lunch breaks were rerouted back onto Big Cottonwood Canyon Road. Many would make a U-turn to park along the shoulder of State Route 190 and hike half a mile along the road to the lifts.
A surge in visitation in recent winters has put pressure on the ski area’s parking infrastructure. Yet Solitude’s proposal to build a 593-space parking lot across the street from Solitude Village, in the midst of a grove of quaking aspen and Salt Lake City’s watershed, has been met with skepticism by public officials, landowners and activists.
They argue the lot will only compound problems already present in the canyon.
Ross McIntyre is one of the critics. If Solitude builds the lot, a retaining wall at least 40 feet tall will replace the wall of thin, white aspen trunks that separate his log home from SR-190. Yet he won’t be the only one affected. He said the creation of the lot could further snarl ski traffic as well as increase erosion and fire risk in the canyon.
Plus, he said, the hillside — visible from just above the traffic light at Cardiff Fork all the way up to the ski area — will likely go from idyllic to eyesore.
“This will, I think,” McIntyre, 64, said, “end up looking sort of like the gravel pit at the mouth of the canyon, only much smaller.”
The Town of Brighton’s Planning Commission will consider the proposal perhaps as soon as at its May 21 meeting. Any decision made by the commission can be appealed to a land use hearing officer.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.