The Sweeney family plans to fly balloons on a hillside overlooking Old Town Wednesday to illustrate the height of the buildings in the proposed Treasure development.
The Park City Planning Commission, City Hall staffers and regular Parkites are scheduled to tour the land on Wednesday as well, the second visit to the site in just more than two months.
Pat Sweeney, who is leading the family’s Treasure efforts, said his side wants to fly the balloons as a way to illustrate the height of the proposed Treasure buildings, which remains one of the key sticking points between the family and people who live nearby. If it is too windy, the balloons might not be flown, though, since they would fly at an angle and not properly show the height.
Sweeney said he also will bring a 20-foot pole, which will be held up to signify the height of some of the shorter buildings that would be built in Treasure under the family’s blueprints. The Treasure tour starts at 5 p.m. at the Town Lift. It is scheduled to last 90 minutes.
“It could start to help some of them understand what we’re trying to accomplish,” Sweeney said.
The Planning Commission occasionally requests developers fly balloons as a way to show how tall a building will be. Wind oftentimes interferes, though, and the balloons only occasionally fly at the full height.
It was not clear early in the week where the balloons will be placed.
The Sweeneys have long said they want to place the tallest of the Treasure buildings toward the center of the project, which would be built on the hillside directly west of Old Town, off streets like Lowell Avenue and Empire Avenue. Computer-generated images made by the Sweeney side show the tallest buildings sitting just off a ski run.
Shorter Treasure buildings are slated for the land closest to the streets, and Sweeney said those building heights would resemble those on the surrounding streets.
The tallest Treasure buildings would climb to a height of approximately 100 feet. The Sweeney side argues that people looking at the buildings from most vantages, though, would not see them from top to bottom. The buildings would partially be built below the grade of the hillside, blocking the lower floors from most people’s view.
In handouts earlier, as an example, one of the buildings would range between 39 and 74 feet above the grade, but another 48 feet of height would be built below the grade.
The proposed heights of the Treasure buildings have upset neighbors and other critics for some time. They worry that the buildings will loom over the nearby streets and look out of place compared to the smaller houses that are nearby. One of the critics, Kyra Parkhurst, recently made a Lego creation to highlight her fears that the Treasure buildings would overwhelm the neighborhood.
The Sweeneys have been locked in talks with the Planning Commission for five years, and it appears that there are still deep concerns by members of the panel. The family holds development rights at the site dating to the 1980s, when an overall plan was approved for Treasure and nearby Sweeney land, but key permits must still be obtained.
Approximately 60 people attended the earlier Sweeney-led tour, held in late August. During that outing, which did not feature balloons to show building heights, Sweeney spent 1 1/2 hours taking the crowd through the Treasure land. The people on the August tour asked a few questions and closely tracked the building sites in comparison to the neighboring houses. Some of the City Hall candidates attended the earlier tour.
The Sweeneys are seeking an approval that encompasses 200 hotel rooms, 100 condominiums and commercial and convention space. There would be skiing upgrade as well. The Sweeneys say the project would boost business on Main Street and bring another top-tier lodging property to the Main Street area.
Charlie Wintzer, the chairman of the Planning Commission, said he hopes more than 60 people attend if the weather is good on Wednesday. He said the visit to the site should be informative.
“We hope that it gives people a better sense of the building bulk, mass and height,” Wintzer said.