The Park City Planning Commission on Wednesday evening began its discussions about a package of lift improvements sought by Park City Mountain, spending limited time on a topic that could become complicated as the review continues during later meetings.
The Planning Commission was not scheduled to make decisions at the meeting on Wednesday and a public hearing was not part of the agenda. The meeting, instead, provided an opportunity for the Park City Mountain team to present an overview of the improvements and for the Planning Commission to make introductory comments. Both sides appeared to understand that subsequent meetings would be more comprehensive in nature. Earlier in the day, the Planning Commission toured the land with Park City Mountain representatives.
The resort is pursuing replacements for three lifts. It wants to build a six-passenger lift as a replacement for two existing ones — Eagle and Eaglet. Park City Mountain also wants to put in an eight-passenger lift as an upgrade to the Silverlode Express, which currently carries six passengers.
Park City Mountain considers the upgrades as a step toward better managing the crowds on the slopes. The resort has argued that access to the Park City side of the resort would also be improved with the upgrades.
The Park City Mountain contingent, led by Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh, presented various aspects of the upgrades in quick succession. The representatives asserted the upgrades would not lead to an expansion of terrain and instead said they are meant to modernize the infrastructure. They said the guest experience would be improved with better circulation and reduced congestion on the slopes. Wait times for skiers and snowboarders would be reduced, the Planning Commission was told.
Materials presented by the Park City Mountain side described the Silverlode Express upgrade as a “like-for-like replacement within the established chairlift corridor.” The Eagle lift upgrade was described as improving the circulation “between beginner and intermediate terrain” as well as supporting “skier progression within the Mountain Village area.”
The Planning Commission’s questioning was cordial, but it did not seem probing. More detailed questions from the panelists are expected at later meetings.
Planning Commissioner John Frontero indicated future discussions would address issues like transportation and parking. Those topics are expected to be more intense as the resort, the Planning Commission and Parkites weigh the impact of the upgrades on Park City Mountain’s wider operations.
Fellow Planning Commissioner Henry Sigg raised the topic of a proposed maintenance building’s hours of operation. There was a brief discussion about the coloring of the lift towers and how they would be placed along the routes.
Resort representatives, meanwhile, presented a slide highlighting $171 million worth of investments over the past 11 years. They include eight chairlift “projects,” areas for beginner skiers and snowboarders, restaurants on the slopes and snowmaking. They spoke about meaningful investment in Park City Mountain.
The current discussions follow in the years after a previous effort by the resort to pursue the upgrades became polarizing. Those talks became entangled in procedural matters centering on the potential impacts on the community should the improvements be allowed.
