City Hall’s idea to create a program that would allow some landowners to shift development rights to other pieces of ground could undergo a makeover, with there seeming to be at least some resistance to moving the long-approved Treasure square footage from the slopes of Park City Mountain Resort to another spot.
The Park City Planning Commission recently continued its discussions about a program that would allow the shifts, known in zoning circles as transfers of development rights or as transfers of density rights. The panel, meeting without two members present, did not make a recommendation to the Park City Council and agreed to revisit the talks in January.
A program could have important implications on the long-running talks about the Sweeney family’s Treasure development idea. A City Hall negotiating team and members of the Sweeney family are attempting to craft a conservation agreement for the Treasure site, which is situated on a hillside overlooking Old Town and close to roads like Empire Avenue and Lowell Avenue.
An agreement between City Hall and the family likely will rely on there being the option to transfer some or all of the development rights from the Treasure acreage to another spot through a program like the one the Planning Commission is considering. The panel spent time at the recent meeting discussing appropriate places where development rights could be shifted from, known as sending zones, and where they could be moved toward, known as receiving zones, with there being a series of parcels in play.
The Treasure land, however, has been the crucial piece of ground under discussion as a sending zone. If the Planning Commission were to want Treasure removed as a sending zone, the program could be stripped of a key component.
Some of the hesitancy at the recent meeting appeared to be based on concerns about whether the Treasure development rights would properly fit into another location rather than panel members wanting to keep the development on the Treasure land itself. There will probably be discussions later about whether the buildings in the receiving zones would need to be too tall in order for them to hold the Treasure square footage in addition to the development rights already attached to the land in the receiving zones.
The two other sending zones under consideration encompass smaller development sites on or close to Ridge Avenue, which is located in the southern reaches of Old Town.
The three sending zones total just more than 1 million square feet of development rights between them, with the vast majority being tied to the Treasure land.
The Planning Commission, meanwhile, touched on the possible receiving zones as well. The Bonanza Park district is seen as the most important one, with one of the major landowners in the district already indicating he is interested in having some or all of the Treasure square footage shifted to his parcels. Snow Creek Plaza is also seen as having potential as a receiving zone.
The sending and receiving zones could be altered later if a program is created, and the City Council could tinker with the ones that the Planning Commission recommends before the elected officials decide to enact them.
Landowners in sending zones willing to shift development rights to another location would likely be compensated by developers in the receiving zones where the rights are shifted. A City Hall role in that process is not yet clear. Price tags have not been set.
The Sweeney family holds development rights on the Treasure land dating to the 1980s, but there has been widespread opposition to the family’s development blueprints. Critics worry about the traffic the project would attract, the size of the buildings and the environmental impacts of the development.
Mike Sweeney, a family member who is involved in the conservation negotiations, testified during the recent meeting, cautioning that shifting the Treasure development rights elsewhere could hurt business at PCMR. He alluded to agreements between his family and the resort, but he did not provide details. Sweeney also requested Main Street be considered as a receiving zone.
Testimony from others included concerns about issues popping up elsewhere in Park City if development rights are shifted, a request to include Deer Valley Resort as a receiving zone and a statement about the process turning into a conundrum.