For at least a decade public debate about the recreational services of the Park City and Summit County governments have included opposition from voices in the private sector who claim tax money is being used to put entrepreneurs out of business.
Stanton Jones, owner of the two Silver Mountain Sports Clubs, says he believes five businesses in the county have shut down since 2004 as a direct result of competition from the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse in Kimball Junction.
The city is now debating a $10.5 million renovation of the Racquet Club in Park Meadows that has been in the works for years and may begin construction in spring of next year.
Jones has been complaining for nearly a decade that the city and county overstep their bounds in providing recreational services for the community.
“I am a big supporter of open space, skate parks, trails, public tennis courts, bike parks, climbing walls, public parks, new pathways, dog parks, playing fields and all kinds of recreation that do not compete directly with private industry,” he said in an interview Thursday. “There are a lot of services that private industry clubs don’t provide and never will. Those are the kind of services the Racquet Club should focus on.”
Instead, he complains, the city and county continually and gradually expand their cardiovascular and weight-lifting equipment facilities in direct competition with him and others.
“Why did they eliminate racquetball? They should be building more gymnasiums which no private industry has in Summit County, or additional tennis courts, or a large climbing wall or a teen center. They should cater to different market niches,” he said.
He complained that the governments say they have no intention of becoming competition, but then offer memberships instead of day-use passes only and strive to match his offerings tit-for-tat.
“They are not trying to cater to different market niches but are trying to have enough of what we have that they can attract some of our customers over to them,” he said.
But Jones emphasized that he isn’t opposed to competition, and he is a supporter of the city improving its facilities. He thinks they should add more courts and said current plans for a climbing wall are great ideas. What specifically he is opposes is an unfair playing field for competition.
“We pay out hundreds of thousands of tax dollars every year The local government uses our tax dollars to compete with us. That isn’t fair. We even have to pay RAP (Recreation, Arts and Parks) taxes and yet we aren’t eligible like the Racquet Club and the Basin Rec. Center to apply for the RAP tax grants. They don’t have to capitalize their expenditures like private industry has to,” he said. “They don’t have to charge a fair price to cover their expenses We have no problem competing with other private industry entities since we all have to play by the same rules.”
Over the past decade, private resident Tom Hurd has been at many of the same public meetings as Jones expressing similar sentiments. Only Hurd’s philosophy takes the argument a step further; he doesn’t believe any government should provide any recreation facilities.
“It’s not good for the tax base, not good for private enterprises,” he said Thursday. “I never have thought the city should be in direct competition with other businesses that they tax and that try to make a go of it in Park City.”
He opposes public parks as well. These spaces hog valuable real estate that could and should be used to generate money for the maintenance of the city, he said.
Hurd doesn’t believe the Racquet Club will ever generate enough revenue to pay for itself.
“This right to run on a treadmill at the taxpayer’s expense is not written anywhere I know of,” he said.
He called the Racquet Club and the skating rink examples of “upper-class welfare.” They aren’t used by or even designed for citizens who can’t afford private facilities. They’re built in response to demand.
If local residents demand the government help them exercise, Hurd believes the city should offer a tax rebate to cover the cost of a private club membership. It would be cheaper than the $10.5 million renovation and would help, instead of compete with, private enterprise.
City council member Liza Simpson said she’s familiar with these arguments, but said the city’s actions are in direct response to the will of the people.
“We have consistently had support from the community at large on this. We’re a recreation community, it’s what we do,” she said. “We believe providing recreational services open to all citizens is an important part of what we do as a municipality.”
Council member Candy Erickson, who also serves as the council’s liaison with the Recreation Advisory Board, said the renovation is taking place because the current facility is outdated, is not up to code, and is inefficient.
“We weren’t looking to add services,” she said.
The expanded space will provide an indoor track and possibly a climbing wall neither of which will compete with private facilities in the county.
“What we’re doing is replacing what we currently have with a few new features,” she added.
The end result should look and function more like a YMCA than a spa, Simpson said.