Park City officials continue to attempt to craft a set of development ideals for the Bonanza Park district, a place seen as holding the potential of significant redevelopment opportunities.
The Bonanza Park district is roughly bounded by Bonanza Drive, Park Avenue and Kearns Boulevard. It is a swath of Park City that some argue is underutilized. The area has long been more of a utilitarian section of Park City as other neighborhoods and districts were redone.
One of the key landowners in Bonanza Park plans an ambitious redo of a patchwork of properties, one of the factors that spurred City Hall to conduct a wide-ranging review of the district. The talks focused on the municipal General Plan, an overarching document that guides growth in the city, for an extended amount of time. They are now are in anticipation of writing a new set of development ideals that will be based on the General Plan. The ideals are expected to be outlined in what is known as a form-based code, which the Park City Planning Department sees as an important tool as the Bonanza Park district is redeveloped.
The Planning Department says a form-based code is a set of planning, zoning and design ideals that is better suited for Bonanza Park than the existing ones. Thomas Eddington, the planning director at City Hall, describes form-based code as a better tool to create a district with buildings that are used for a mix of purposes as well as housing that will be available to a range of income levels. A form-based code will also lead to a better neighborhood fabric, he says. Park City leaders support those ideals in Bonanza Park.
A Planning Department report drafted in anticipation of a recent meeting outlined form-based code as something that “will guide redevelopment projects to incorporate mixed-use, authentic building forms and materials, and a desirable public realm.”
The Park City Planning Commission at the recent meeting addressed Bonanza Park, receiving a range of comment from the public. The Planning Commission was not scheduled to make important decisions and will return to the topic later.
The panel received approximately 30 minutes of testimony. Speakers generally had a questioning tone as they addressed form-based code and Bonanza Park. They discussed concerns as they offered comments.
Chuck Klingenstein, who once served on the Park City Council and before that on the Planning Commission, urged the panel to continue to challenge the ideas for Bonanza Park and form-based code.
“Keep asking questions,” Klingenstein said.
He wondered about lost views if taller buildings were put up as a result of changes in the rules and said exhibits should be required showing private-sector developments in the district.
Mike Jackson, who represents the Fresh Market grocery store, said a grocer would not be a viable business in Bonanza Park if the development ideals are adopted. He worried that City Hall could someday limit the number of entries and exits to a commercial property’s parking lot. He called the Bonanza Park ideals outlined by City Hall “utopia-like dreams.”
Clay Stuard, who appeared in front of the Planning Commission shortly after unsuccessfully seeking reappointment to the panel, expressed concern about buildings blocking views. He said form-based code has been misrepresented. Stuard crumpled up a flier containing information about the meeting in front of the Planning Commission.
Stuard also submitted an eight-page written discussion of form-based code, calling the code possibly “the most significant re-zoning initiative in the history of Park City.”
“It deserves a high level of scrutiny of the Planning Commission, the citizens and business owners of Park City and the professional staff and elected members of the City Council,” Stuard said in his written comments. “A careful street-by-street, block-by-block analysis of the proposed (form-based code) will reveal many, many characteristics that are not consistent with the General Plan, nor its promise to Keep Park City, Park City.”
Scott Loomis, the executive director of the not-for-profit Mountainlands Community Housing Trust, said form-based code could displace people who live in the district now. An “elite development” could be created, he argued.
The Park City Council at a later meeting, meanwhile, received unscheduled testimony about the ideals for Bonanza Park. Peter Yogman, a Park Meadows resident, spoke to the elected officials, saying Bonanza Park “can never survive on its own as a self contained unit,” according to his prepared remarks to the City Council. A section of Yogman’s prepared remarks alluded to the comments Loomis made to the Planning Commission. Yogman described a scenario of empty commercial space, “phony low income housing” and expensive residences.
“How deliciously ironic that this council, so in favor of work force housing and viable small business and local commercial enterprises would be buying into a plan that would effectively destroy an existing neighborhood that offers just that. We would be destroying local businesses and creating a new elite neighborhood at the center of our town. It would be funny if (it) wasn’t so tragic, so stupid, and so unnecessary,” Yogman’s prepared remarks said.
A form of planning
City Hall published a brief description of a planning ideal known as form-based code in anticipation of a recent Park City Planning Commission meeting. The description:
What is Form-Based Code?
Zoning based on building form and replaces use-based zoning
Why?
An incredible alternative to conventional zoning