For the July 8 meeting of the Park City Planning Commission, I counted 35 letters to the commission in opposition to the mixed-use development plan for the 5-acre Bonanza Park parcel. This represented an 8 to 1 ratio of letters opposed versus letters in favor. A similar lopsided response was evident during the public input session at the meeting.
Statistically, these numbers are not necessarily representative of the wishes of the community as a whole, but as suggested in recent letters to the editor, why not find out what Park City residents think the destiny of the property should be by simply putting the issue to a vote by referendum?
In the July 3 edition of this newspaper, an editor’s note was appended to two reader’s letters which proposed such a referendum, stating that “Utah law does not permit municipalities to set referendums on land-use decisions like this. Citizens can petition for enough valid signatures of voters to place a referendum on the ballot only in the case of a split final decision on the development.”
Such a blanket statement by the Editor was apparently referring to Utah Code section 20A-7-602.8(2)(b) which reads in part: “A proposed referendum is not legally referable to voters for a “municipal land use law, as defined in Section 20A-7-101, if the land use law was passed by a unanimous vote of the local legislative body.”
The logical corollary to the above is that the public’s right to a referendum is not extinguished if the vote is not unanimous.
The final City Council vote to approve the proposed mixed use development of the Bonanza Park 5-acre parcel and forward it to the Planning Commission, including its plan for affordable housing units, was not unanimous. It was 4 to 1, and to my knowledge there has not been a “unanimous vote” on the issue. I do know that there is a petition circulating in opposition to the current City Council/mayor thinking.
In the interest of keeping its readers fully informed, perhaps the editor of the Park Record should explore the options surrounding a citizen-driven initiative rather than dismissing the suggestion of a referendum out of hand.
Jim Helfand
Park City