Important segments of the Park City business community are scheduled to receive a briefing late in the week about a development proposal in Bonanza Park involving the Park City municipal government.
An event involving three prominent organizations is planned on Friday, bringing together the Historic Park City Alliance, which represents businesses in the Main Street core, the Park City Area Restaurant Association and the Park City Area Lodging Association.
The meeting is open to those who are a member of at least one of the organizations. The three groups, taken together, cover a wide swath of the tourism industry.
Presenters had not been finalized by early in the week.
Ginger Wicks, the executive director of each of the three organizations, said the gathering is intended to ensure the business community is aware of the proposal. Wicks, though, said none of the three organizations currently plan to take a formal position on the proposal.
The event is scheduled at 10 a.m. on Friday at the Blair Education Center at the Park City Hospital and will include time for audience questions.
Main Street, the lodging industry and the restaurant sector are believed to be monitoring the Park City Planning Commission review, but the potential impacts of a project on the business community — positive or negative — have not been among the significant issues addressed during the Planning Commission talks. The topic has also not been one of the overriding themes of testimony during Planning Commission hearings.
The proposal involves:
- 88 units of income-restricted rentals.
- 18 rentals without income restrictions.
- More than 30,000 square feet for a variety of tenants, such as retailers, restaurants, cafes and art spaces for not-for-profit organizations.
- A childcare location.
- 2 acres of open space.
A partnership between the municipal government and the Chicago-area firm Brinshore Development is pursuing the proposal on 5 acres of Park City-owned land, stretching inward from the southwest corner of the intersection of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive.
The business community at the Friday event may want to learn about various aspects of the proposal. The income-restricted units would be expected to add to the options for the workforce at a time when many rank-and-file workers struggle in Park City’s resort-driven real estate and rental markets. That could increase the pool of available workers who live locally.
The retailers, restaurants and other spaces could be seen as either complementing, or competing with, the surrounding Prospector business community as well as Main Street.
The business-related event on Friday is scheduled two days after the Planning Commission is set to discuss the proposal and hold a hearing. The Planning Commission is expected to address issues like traffic, parking and the height of buildings.
Comments about height could be notable, with the development partnership having recently proposed possible reductions on most of the buildings. Two and a half hours are set aside for the proposal at the Wednesday meeting of the Planning Commission.
Testimony during the Planning Commission hearings has tilted heavily against the proposal. There is organized opposition and calls for leaders to drop the proposal and instead create a park on the land.
The municipal government acquired the land nearly a decade ago with the intent to develop an arts and culture district anchored by the Kimball Art Center and the Utah offices of the Sundance Institute. That concept was ultimately scrapped, with the art center instead opting for a location in the Snyderville Basin and the Sundance Film Festival leaving the state.
The Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at the Marsac Building. It will also be broadcast on the municipal website, parkcity.gov.
