Park City has opened a recruitment for two members of the Planning Commission, an influential panel with wide-ranging authority regarding growth and development matters.
The terms of Planning Commission members John Kenworthy and Christin Van Dine expire in July. Neither immediately replied to a Park Record inquiry sent to their City Hall email addresses.
The Planning Commission has long been seen as ranking second in importance only to the Park City Council of all the City Hall boards and commissions. The seven-person Planning Commission has the authority to approve or reject numerous sorts of development-related applications. In many instances, a Planning Commission decision is the last vote on a matter.
Planning Commission debates about individual developments sometimes become especially difficult and controversial. The Planning Commission, as an example, was the panel that spent significant time reviewing a large development proposal at the Park City-side base area of Park City Mountain before the application was withdrawn in early 2023. The panel will also be heavily involved in the talks about a significant development proposal at the Snow Park base of Deer Valley Resort.
Large proposals like those at the resort base areas generate lots of publicity for Planning Commission business, and usually attract the largest crowds, but the panel also is tasked with numerous applications that are far less ambitious in nature. The smaller development proposals, though, can generate intense interest and opinions in a neighborhood or on an individual street.
The Planning Commission also has influence on discussions about City Hall’s growth and development documents – the Land Management Code, which contains the detailed municipal development rules, and the General Plan, which guides growth on a broad scale. The input of the Planning Commission regarding the documents sometimes forms the basis of the language that is ultimately adopted.
The recruitment, meanwhile, is underway amid change in the Planning Department. Planning Director Gretchen Milliken recently announced plans to depart in May after a little more than two years leading the department. City Hall plans to launch a search for the next planning director shortly.
A seat on the Planning Commission has long been used as a starting point for higher office at City Hall. A series of members of the Planning Commission have gone on to win seats on the Park City Council. Three people in recent decades with experience as a planning commissioner– Brad Olch, Jack Thomas and Nann Worel – have won the mayor’s office.
The Planning Commission during the term of the seats under recruitment is expected to continue to discuss the future of the Snow Park base area, review the eventual blueprints for City Hall-owned land in Bonanza Park and consider workforce or otherwise income-restricted housing projects. It seems there could also eventually be another proposal for a project at the Park City Mountain base, where there are intact development rights dating to the 1990s.
Planning Commissioners earn $100 per meeting. Members of all City Hall boards and commissions are eligible for benefits like access to a ski pass based upon availability, discounts at municipal recreation facilities and an invitation to the annual municipal holiday party as well as an annual social event for the people serving on the various panels.
Applications for the Planning Commission are available on the City Hall website, www.parkcity.org. The direct link is: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=OmMnqDxPSEaWpW3D2jFhLAndzFWcfINMvEZVSqp4hI9UNEhSTktTQVZHVUlYUUg1Wk9FNjAxWUFWMi4u&wdLOR=c83EF074E-31DD-468F-84E3-2FECBD5BF10F.
The deadline is 5 p.m. May 15.
Park City is also seeking people to serve on other boards and commissions, including the Library Board, the Police Complaint Review Committee, the Public Art Advisory Board, the Recreation Advisory Board and the Board of Appeals. A release from City Hall regarding the various opportunities is available at: https://www.parkcity.org/Home/Components/News/News/41963/23.