Mayor Ryan Dickey and the Park City Council on Thursday evening received input opposing a development proposal in Bonanza Park as criticism about the concept continued for a second consecutive day.
The elected officials were not scheduled to address the topic, and they did not respond in any detail to the input. The concept is under consideration by the Park City Planning Commission rather than the elected officials, but the project involves the municipal government as part of a partnership with a Chicago-area firm called Brinshore Development, LLC. Critics of the concept have been pressing the mayor and City Council to drop the efforts.
The input on Thursday came a day after a Planning Commission hearing tilted heavily toward criticism. The land stretches inward from the southwest corner of the intersection of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive. The concept involves a large amount of workforce or otherwise income-restricted housing, market-rate units and other elements.
There is an organized opposition group, called PLACE PC, with an effort underway attempting to convince the elected officials to create park space instead. The opponents at the meeting presented a petition with 2,399 names.
One of the speakers on Thursday, Mike Todd, described himself as owning housing that is part of the affordable stock. He worried about a project at the location.
“Affordable housing’s great, but this particular site, this is a diamond piece of property. I’ve been driving it for 40 years. It deserves a diamond project,” he said.
Todd continued: “I believe this corner deserves the best project that Park City has ever seen. We only get one shot at this corner. Make it the best. Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but … if you don’t, it’s going to be on you. Please make it the best that it can be. This isn’t it.”
Jimmy May, who identified himself as part of the opposition movement, told the elected officials he supports housing but not the current proposal.
“Look, we’re all stakeholders in this community. We live here, we work here, recreate here, shop here and enjoy the traffic here. This petition is the voice of the community. This is the will of the people. Council, mayor, this is Park City united. Nothing has better brought this city together in my decade here in Park City than opposition to the Brinshore proposal. Location, density, design, expense, Brinshore is wrong on all four for Bonanza Park. Council, I urge you to reject this proposal,” he said.
Patricia Kipp, a physician, worried about a project’s impact on the route to the hospital at Quinn’s Junction.
“Right now, during several hours daily, safe, timely passage to the emergency room is not possible from this side of town. It would also be impossible to have a safe, timely evacuation through Bonanza in the case of a wildfire or some other mass event that took place in the city,” she said.
The mayor afterward said in an interview that there are no current discussions about altering or abandoning the proposal.