Park City locals have experienced years of controversy and drama related to city officials’ efforts to transform part of the Bonanza Park district into an arts and culture district on Kearns Boulevard. . and Dr. Bonanza.
The topic came up again at a Park City Council retreat on Wednesday. It’s been some time since the project was put on hold, and the city said it was time to check with the public again.
A previous survey of the district was conducted in 2017, but the plans were eventually scrapped amid community concerns that prices had jumped 30% to over $100 million.
But the space is still empty and could be centrally located, so the city is going back to the drawing board, gauging public interest and researching what an arts district might look like and cost. New research is underway. At the same time, the city will begin area planning work for the Bonanza Park and Snow Creek districts.
Alderman Max Doilney says the city and the world have changed a lot since the last survey. He said the important thing is to have a long-term plan to carry the project forward.
“How do we navigate such a massive mission as the dynamics of those of us sitting here change over the next few years? I think it’s part of the community’s frustration with having to come to new conclusions each time,” Doilney said.
“It seems like a road leading nowhere.”
The Sundance Institute and the Kimball Arts Center will be key partners in this project. Park City Mayor Nan Worrell said both sides support conducting the study.
We currently have two large development applications in the same neighborhood. Affordable housing projects for urban homestakes and the redevelopment of the Doubletree Hotel, commonly known as Yarrow. Between the two, Park City could add nearly 400 residential units.
At Wednesday’s retreat, Rep. Ryan Dickie said these pending applications may require a moratorium on buildings that have been discussed but never used in the past.
“Before these applications come out, we have to have a clear vision of what we are doing,” said Dickey.
“And at some point I want to come back to the development moratorium conversation, because I think it’s related to that. We need to be able to actually do a pause button so that we don’t deal with development applications. I think we need to press when we carry out this plan.”
State property laws make it difficult to enact a moratorium. Cities must demonstrate “compelling countervailing public interest” to install it, and it will only last up to six months before it needs to be renewed.
In March, Park City Planning Director Gretchen Milliken told the council that the agency considered requesting a moratorium in 2021, but planning staff eventually processed the outstanding application.
At another Park City Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, Commissioner John Kenworthy also brought up the topic of a moratorium on the building, but it was not discussed for long.
After creating a neighborhood plan for Bonanza Park/Snow Creek, the city will begin updating the overall plan in 2023. The General Plan is a guidebook for land use decisions and has not been updated since 2014.
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