A Park City panel on Wednesday night approved a significant development along the Kearns Boulevard corridor, a vote that advanced City Hall’s efforts to broaden the stock of workforce or otherwise-restricted affordable housing, and accomplish that in a high-profile location.
The Park City Planning Commission cast a unanimous vote at a little bit before 10 p.m. in favor of the project, which is slated for 1875 Homestake Road. The municipal government owns the land and is pursuing the project with the firm J. Fisher Companies. It entails 123 housing units. Ninety-nine will be categorized as restricted affordable rentals while the other 24 will be rented on a long-term basis on the open market. Details about pricing and eligibility for the 99 restricted units will be made available later.
Members of the Planning Commission praised various aspects of the project on Wednesday prior to casting the vote. The panelists were pleased the project did not seek variances to City Hall’s development rules and said housing is needed in Park City.
“Kudos to the applicant,” Planning Commissioner Henry Sigg said.
The project is designed for a nearly 1.9-acre parcel of land widely referred to as The Yard. The ground is in the area of the Homestake condominiums, the Boneyard Saloon & Wine Dive, the Blind Dog Restaurant & Raw Bar, the Kimball Art Center and Recycle Utah.
The City Hall-J. Fischer Companies public-private partnership intends to develop 28 one-bedroom units, 88 two-bedroom units and seven three-bedroom units. The discussions with the Planning Commission started in July and there was generally support for the overall project even as the sides needed to address issues such as the traffic the project is forecast to generate and the overall design of the development.
“We are obviously very grateful and appreciative of the Planning Commission’s positive vote for the Homestake Affordable Housing project. It was decidedly a team effort and we were able to accomplish a goal that, I believe, will be of enormous benefit to Park City for decades to come,” Rory Murphy, a J. Fischer Companies representative who appeared on behalf of the firm in front of the Planning Commission, said in a prepared statement after the meeting.
The project includes an especially large bloc of restricted affordable units as compared to a typical Park City development. City Hall’s involvement gave municipal leaders broad influence in the makeup of the project, and the development is seen as a significant step as officials continue an aggressive housing program. City Hall and other supporters of the housing efforts consider workforce or otherwise affordable projects like the one approved on Wednesday as providing wide-ranging benefits to the community. They see the housing as something that reduces commuter traffic and adds to Park City’s socioeconomic diversity.
“Collectively, we all understand the need for housing for our working population. Housing always has impacts and we worked hard to reduce those impacts to accommodate the neighborhood as best we could. While no project is perfect, we will continue to try to refine the project to produce the best possible building that we can. I am confident we will contribute greatly to the workforce need in town and give locals a place to live. Without people and families, a town is not a town,” the statement from Murphy said.
Murphy, meanwhile, highlighted that the units will not be available to be put into the short-term rental pool. Short-term rentals have drawn complaints from surrounding neighborhoods for years, but the issue has appeared to be more pronounced recently with the rise of new opportunities for owners seeking a revenue stream through the rentals.
“We all know that the increase in nightly rentals in places like Old Town have devastated the available inventory for long-term renters. By deed-restricting all of the units so nightly-rentals are not allowed (we) will ensure locals have a place to live in town where they work, go to school, recreate and live their lives in this community without fear of being displaced. I am thankful and humbled to be able to help with that outcome,” the statement said.
The Planning Commission received approximately 45 minutes of testimony from the public prior to the vote on Wednesday. Speakers covered a range of issues such as support for the inclusion of chargers for vehicles that run on electricity and that the project will help meet a community need for housing.
There was also criticism, though, as some of the speakers addressed certain points of the project. Greg Friedman, who lives in a nearby condominium complex, expressed a worry about safety with the construction traffic that will be required as the project is built. He argued any municipal infrastructure, like sidewalks, should precede the construction of the project. Friedman also predicted the number of people living in the development will exceed projections, which, he said, would affect parking and pedestrian safety.
The construction is projected to start in the spring of 2023 and last into the fall of 2024. An upgrade to a water line along Homestake Road, the upgrading of the road itself and an expansion of Munchkin Road are scheduled as well, with the Munchkin Road expansion expected to be last and start in the spring of 2025.
Eligibility for the restricted units will be detailed closer to the time when they are ready for occupancy. People will need to qualify through their incomes, and the dollar figures would be set at that time and be based on the area’s median income then.
City Hall staffers in a report drafted in anticipation of the meeting had recommended the Planning Commission consider approving the project.
The Planning Commission, meanwhile, also was presented some of the details of the project on Wednesday. They included:
• that the project is expected to generate fewer than 50 vehicle trips during the busiest hour and that the projected traffic is not anticipated to degrade the level of service at an intersection nearby.
• 15 bicycle stalls for visitors to the development as well as 50 parking stalls for bicycles that are covered and secured.
• a permit or sticker requirement for vehicles parked in a structure that will be built, with the towing of vehicles without them at the owner’s expense.