The outgoing Summit County community development director remembers getting a job in Park City’s planning department just as the 2002 Winter Olympics were announced.
“Andrea, I, and at that point, three of the boys were following the moving van up Interstate 15. And there was traffic then too. And we had the radio on,” Putt recalled on KPCW’s Local News Hour. “On the radio came an announcement that Utah and Park City were going to get the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. I started work that following Monday.”
The Olympics bookend his tenure in Utah. Putt’s retirement comes days after the world learned the Winter Games would return to the Beehive state in 2034.
His story in between is one of substantial growth for Park City and the wider county.
“Park City is really an aggregation of a lot of time, care and effort on a project-by-project basis.”
Putt said he’s happy with the trajectory of projects still pending, particularly Cedar Crest, a proposed town-sized development in Hoytsville. He characterizes it as grassroots and locally-driven, not top-down.
He’s also hopeful for collaboration and reduced animosity surrounding potential Kimball Junction development on land owned by Summit County and Dakota Pacific Real Estate.
The Summit County Council thanked him for his service at its July 31 meeting.
“Pat will come before us, and rather than just give us a dry presentation, we usually got some sort of parable,” Councilmember Roger Armstrong said.
Councilmember Roger Armstrong added he hopes Putt writes. The former planning director may just do that, with the help of KPCW's former Summit County beat reporter.
“I want to do some writing,” Putt said. “Rick Brough, if you're listening, I've got a couple fantastic ideas that I need your help with.”
As Summit County’s community development director, Putt spent the last decade helping run planning commission meetings and working with applicants for various permits.
Before that, he worked for Park City; Flagstaff, Arizona; and Breckenridge, Colorado. His career has spanned nearly four decades.
That’s meant many late meetings and long public hearings—a wild ride, he said.
“I feel like a 16-year-old with a new driver's license; and there's a dashboard cam; and I'm just hurtling down the road and all of a sudden; the raccoon jumps out; and you swerve; and all of a sudden you're in the grass and the brush; and you're rolling up on the other bank, past the beer bottle; and just before you hit the embankment, you kind of come to a stop,” Putt told KPCW. “Well, I'm here, with all airbags deployed and my hands clutching the steering wheel.”
Putt is succeeded by Peter Barnes, who used to be second-in-command at the Summit County Planning Department. The Summit County Council appointed him June 26.
