Canyons has dorm-style employee housing on Ozzy Way near the Cabriolet lift called Slopeside Village. It was built to make good on the resort’s promise to Summit County in 1999: more than 1,100 beds for employees.
Tony Tyler of Columbus Pacific Development received positive feedback on the phase 2 plan for 324 more at the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission Oct. 22.
“Everything we're seeing tonight is above and beyond what was required as part of the Canyons development agreement,” county planner Tiffanie Robinson told commissioners.
What’s different about Slopeside phase 2 is that it would have no income restrictions. Phase 1 was reserved for Summit County employees making less than less than 80% of the county’s median income.
Phase 2 is proposed only for anyone who has a job within Summit County.
“What we're targeting in terms of income level is something above 80% and something below 150%,” Tyler said.
Limiting housing to workers in a certain geographic area isn’t new, but other developments in Summit County couple that with income limits. Slopeside’s phase 2 wouldn’t do that.
And phase 2’s units will be bigger than phase 1’s. Instead of dorms, there will be 149 studios, one-bedrooms or two-bedrooms, fitting 324 people. It includes 149 parking spaces, 12 of them with EV chargers.
The planning commission is willing to give the development plan a try. Commissioners unanimously voted to recommend it to County Manager Shayne Scott.
He told KPCW he hasn’t reviewed the project yet, but it should hit his desk soon. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 12 where Scott may make the call.
An average of seven people can fit into each of phase 1’s 169 units, which first opened in 2022.
According to Tyler, there’s currently enough room for 1,190 people. It’s at 90% capacity with residents from 23 countries.
That means no waitlist—Slopeside is perhaps the only income-restricted development in Summit County without one.
He said the top two reasons people aren’t signing leases are that they want a more private residence or earn more than 80% of the area median income.
That’s the demographic phase 2 is aimed at.
There’s room for phase 3, but Tyler said the plot of land is small and oddly shaped and works better as open space for now.
So, there's no more employee housing on deck. But Tyler told commissioners he has heard plans for some retail or commercial on the Cabriolet lot site.
Most of the parking lot is slated for a parking garage, and retail can fit between the garage and golf course, which abuts state Route 224. Parking garage construction was approved but delayed indefinitely.
Tyler hopes to start his project by the end of this year. He said Slopeside’s buildings take 20 months to finish, and he wants to open them by the 2026–2027 ski season.
