A discussion on Wednesday about a significant affordable housing development that involves City Hall close to the S.R. 248 entryway was subdued, as the Park City Planning Commission began its talks about the idea.
Upcoming commission meetings regarding Clark Ranch may be more lively. The meeting on Wednesday did not attract a large crowd.
A person in attendance with concerns about the concept said afterward an opposition movement is forming. The Clark Ranch land is off U.S. 40 as it approaches Quinn’s Junction and S.R. 248. It is next to the Park City Heights development on the south side of the subdivision.
John Greenfield, a Park City Heights resident, was at the Marsac Building for the meeting. Greenfield in an interview said he “100%” expects an opposition movement to the Clark Ranch concept.
“I think there are lots of people in Park City Heights who are mobilizing,” he said, indicating there has been a string of emails among residents in Park City Heights that point to the formation of an organized opposition movement.
He said he hopes Clark Ranch becomes a citywide issue rather than one centered in Park City Heights.
Greenfield claimed there has not been enough public discourse about the number of units sought at Clark Ranch and said those discussions have been held “behind the scenes” between Park City leaders and The Alexander Company, which is partnering with the municipal government. He said the concept fails to blend with Park City Heights and is too dense in its design.
“That is the opposite of modest,” he said.
The municipal government owns the Clark Ranch land and intends to pursue a development through a public-private partnership with The Alexander Company. A development would be designed on a maximum of 10 acres while the other 334 acres of the property would remain open space. The designs include 167 multifamily units and another 34 townhomes.
Much of the development would be set aside as workforce or otherwise restricted affordable housing, advancing City Hall’s aggressive housing program.
Opposition has been anticipated, but it was not clear in recent months whether it would be organized. Critics of the Clark Ranch can be expected to concentrate on topics like the number of units, the traffic a project would generate and the impact on open space. Those sorts of issues have for decades been commonplace in discussions about significant development proposals in Park City.
The Planning Commission on Wednesday did not hold a detailed initial discussion on the project. Those talks are expected during a series of upcoming meetings. The panelists provided comments about the amount of acreage that would be developed, recreation connections and the ultimate conservation of the Clark Ranch acreage not included in the development.
The Alexander Company team at the meeting provided an overview of the concept, describing how the buildings would be nestled within the development, which would be served by a separate road next to U.S. 40 than the entrance to Park City Heights.
Discussions at future Planning Commission meetings are expected to become more complex. Public hearings will be scheduled at upcoming meetings as well.
The Clark Ranch concept, meanwhile, has split the Park City Council and has entered the City Hall election politics. Park City voters in November will select a mayor and two members of the City Council.
The City Hall housing program is designed to provide options for those priced out of Park City’s resort-driven real estate and rental markets. Proponents see the housing program as boosting socioeconomic diversity and reducing commuter traffic.