The Park City School District will expand Parley’s Park Elementary with a new wing where the main parking lot is now, off Silver Springs Drive.
The proposal went before the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission Tuesday to make sure it complied with county code about the new uses for the land.
Those uses include a new playground, gym, classrooms and specialized learning studios and breakout rooms. The parking lot would be reworked, the existing 64 parking stalls reduced to 60 stalls.
County staff found the proposal in compliance with code and recommended approval. Commissioners voted 5-1 in favor.
Commissioner D.J. Hubler was the one who voted against, calling it a “protest vote.” Hubler said the project complied with previous state building codes when the state approved it, before new codes went into effect July 1, 2023.
“I'm just going to go on record and express disappointment in using building codes at the end of their useful life when there was knowledge that the newer ones were going to be adopted,” Hubler said.
Other planning commissioners and the community development director noted that the planning commission reviews the school district’s projects for compliance with county planning code, not building code.
Commissioner Thomas Cooke also said the school district’s many construction projects were formulated years ago, perhaps all together.
“I mean, I don't disagree with you [Hubler],” Cooke said. “But at the same time, I think it's one school project out of a bundle of—how many—going on simultaneously.”
The other construction projects are at Jeremy Ranch Elementary School, McPolin Elementary School, Trailside Elementary School, Ecker Hill Middle School and Park City High School.
The Parley’s Park expansion is moving ahead, and according to the school district’s most recent weekly update, construction was expected to begin at the end of July.
“Progress at Parley's will begin as soon as conditions allow,” the school district said in a statement.
