The daughter of a member of the Park City Council recently won an appointment to City Hall’s Old Town panel, ascending to the Historic Preservation Board with the support of the other City Councilors.
Katherine Matsumoto-Gray’s term on the panel starts in July and runs through May 2014. She is the daughter of City Councilwoman Cindy Matsumoto.
The City Council makes appointments to the panel. Matsumoto abstained from voting on the appointment of her daughter. The City Councilwoman, though, cast votes in favor of the other two people who won terms on the Historic Preservation Board at the same time.
The City Council retained Judy McKie as a member of the panel and put Puggy Holmgren on the Historic Preservation Board. Holmgren had served on the panel previously but was not an incumbent. The terms of McKie and Holmgren run from July until May 2014.
Matsumoto-Gray acknowledged her family ties to the City Councilwoman in her application.
The Historic Preservation Board holds some authority in Old Town development issues. The panel sometimes is requested to become involved in disputes about building designs. If a property owner and City Hall staffers cannot reach a resolution about designs, the property owner has the ability to appeal a staff-level decision to the Historic Preservation Board.
Meanwhile, the Historic Preservation Board maintains Old Town building guidelines and keeps an inventory of historic properties in Park City, with members considering whether properties are eligible for inclusion in the inventory.
The City Council selected the three out of a field of 17 people who submitted applications for appointment.
There have been a few flare-ups in Old Town that have appeared to spur wider interest in the work of the Historic Preservation Board, including the demolition of an old building close to the bottom of the Town Lift.
The field of 17 people seeking an appointment followed a few months after another highly competitive selection process to fill a vacancy on the Historic Preservation Board.
The earlier process, conducted shortly after the demolition close to the bottom of the Town Lift, drew 13 interested people. Openings on the Historic Preservation Board typically only drew a handful of interested people.