The Snyderville Basin, the area surrounding Park City proper, blends the rural and suburban.
Much of the zoning is actually called “rural residential,” and it allows for large accessory buildings—think: barns.
And it seems to Basin resident Debbie Scoggan that everyone’s building one—just not for agriculture.
“You're getting an emergence of rooftops, which is the opposite of what the whole idea was,” she said, referencing the general plan’s prioritizing open space.
The former Snyderville Basin planning commissioner is the leading edge of residents frustrated with the explosion of accessory buildings, and she’s a familiar face at local government meetings.
Scoggan has been advocating for stricter rules since at least 2017, and property owners are still requesting the barns en masse.
The planning commission considered two more requests from Silver Creek Estates property owners Aug. 13.
“We're finding that a lot of people—given the fact you can build a barn for $400 a square foot, and sell it for over $1000—are coming in and doing large structures, which the code allows you to do,” current Commissioner Chris Conabee told the Summit County Council Aug. 14.
“The problem is defining nightly rentals and commercial uses … where some of them are being turned into private recreation facilities, or wedding venues, or things that aren't characteristic of the neighborhood. And it's happening after the application and after the construction.”
The council saw that firsthand with another Silver Creek Estates landowner the week before.
Landowner and attorney Gregory Michael Dell’s neighbors had called in complaints, saying he was using his outbuildings to run an events center, which is not allowed in the rural residential zone.
County civil attorney Lynda Viti read from his former Airbnb and VRBO listing: “Our $20 million private ranch compound is one of a kind, consisting of nine acres; four separate buildings; 11 bedrooms; sleeps 24 to 30; 7,000 square foot entertainment facility, the ‘clubhouse’—in quotes—with indoor pickleball court, lounge with bar, kitchen, dining for 12, barbecue, full gym, game room, seven televisions, 17-foot movie screen with 4k laser projector, DJ booth, nightclub lighting. For additional charge, we offer butler service during your entire stay.”
Dell was asking the county council to sanction his nightly rental Aug. 7, and the two-hour appeal hearing was a barn burner.
“The only thing I'm renting is my home, and this is an accessory building, which is incidental—as defined by the code—that can be used by my guest,” Dell said.
But he couldn’t convince the council. It unanimously denied his appeal.
Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson followed up by reading disparaging emails Dell previously wrote to the county. He’d threatened to sue, and she responded in kind.
“If you continue to conduct yourself like this in future litigation, I will seek to have you designated as a vexatious litigant,” she told the attorney, who was representing himself. He didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Aug. 16.
As for Scoggan, she’s not surprised.
“My thought was, ‘What’d you think these people were going to do once we took their eyes off of them?’” she told KPCW.
County leaders, however, say they can’t accuse residents of a future crime.
Some action has been taken over the years. It’s now illegal to build a storage unit on a Snyderville Basin property, and they’ve put size limits on accessory buildings in general.
The biggest issue now is catching those who commercialize their outbuildings illegally.
There are just two code enforcement officers monitoring the county’s roughly 43,000 people. And they won’t know about violations unless neighbors alert them.
Community Development Director Peter Barnes would like two more employees to enforce nightly rental rules, but it’s unclear if the county can afford new hires in FY2025.
