Challenger Brad Olch accuses his opponent, incumbent Mayor Dana Williams, of standing aside as the Sweeney family has expanded the size of its Treasure development proposal, a significant shift in an Olch campaign that has thus far not so directly confronted Williams’ record at City Hall over the past seven-plus years.
In an advertisement published in The Park Record last weekend, part of a new, tough-talking strategy against Williams, Olch charges that the mayor “has allowed the Sweeney project to grow to three times” what was approved in the 1980s. It also attributes a quote to Olch, the mayor from 1990 until 2002, saying that Treasure is not appropriate as it is designed. The words “Williams,” “Sweeney project” and “grow to three times the size” are printed in boldface.
The advertisement made its debut less than a month before Election Day and as tensions mount about Treasure, which the Sweeneys want to build on a hillside overlooking Old Town on the slopes of Park City Mountain Resort. It has long been expected that Treasure would be a significant campaign issue, but the advertisement is the most calculated effort to politicize the project.
The Sweeneys hold development rights at the site that date to the 1980s, but City Hall officials, including the Park City Planning Commission, and many Parkites are unhappy with the proposal. There have been widespread complaints that Treasure would attract too much traffic and loom over the neighborhood.
It is the most controversial development proposal inside Park City since the project that was later built as Empire Pass was approved in the 1990s.
“He never says no. That’s the approach he’s taken,” Olch said in an interview, adding, “Who’s been the mayor for the last eight years? Not me.”
The Treasure dispute is currently being played out in front of the Planning Commission, and Williams and the Park City Council have had only a limited role. The lower panel holds the authority to render a decision on the Treasure proposal, but it is expected that a Planning Commission decision will later be brought to the City Council, either through an appeal or a rarely used procedural move that allows the elected officials to review Planning Commission decisions.
There have been increasing concerns in recent months about the scope of the development proposal and whether it fits within the restrictions of the 1980s approval. Much of the recent chatter has keyed on whether the Sweeneys are requesting more convention and meeting space than was originally considered.
The mayor, who came to political prominence as the leader of development watchdog Citizens Allied for Responsible Growth, has been guarded in his comments about Treasure, saying he does not want to make public statements as the Sweeneys and City Hall are engaged in the talks. He has questioned whether the proposal is within the parameters of what was approved in the 1980s, though.
Olch’s new strategy comes during the closing weeks of a campaign that had largely lacked the political drama that marked mayoral contests from the 1980s until the early part of this decade. The Olch ads are the most pointed political statements made against Williams since the incumbent won the office in a brutal campaign in 2001 against Fred Jones, a City Councilman at the time who was seen as being aligned with Olch, then the outgoing mayor. Williams ran unopposed when he won a second term in the 2005 election.
It is a risky move, though, for the challenger and one that could spotlight Olch’s own role in Treasure. Olch, a Planning Commissioner in the 1980s, cast a ‘Yea’ vote as the Sweeneys were seeking the overall development approval, which encompassed Treasure and nearby projects that have since been built.
He has said the affirmative vote at the time was the best option since the Sweeneys pledged to set aside from development much of the rest of their highly visible land. During the campaign, though, Olch has maintained he did not expect the Sweeneys to pursue a development of the magnitude of Treasure.
Voters in September advanced Olch and Williams to Election Day over two lesser-known candidates. Williams was the top vote-getter by a wide margin, winning a stunning 68.9 percent of the vote in a four-person contest. Olch, the second-place finisher in the primary, received 26.5 percent of the vote.
In an interview after the advertisement was published, Williams said he “completely expected” Olch to toughen his campaign as Election Day neared. Williams declined to respond to the assertions in the advertisement, saying he has not employed similar tactics during his political career or during his time leading the development watchdog.
“Regardless of his advertising, we will maintain the high road,” the mayor said.