Someone in Park City government needs to stand up for Park City citizens regarding the proposed Deer Valley Resort project at Snow Park. Right now, that needs to be the Park City Planning Commission, which may decide on Jan. 22 whether to approve Phase 1 (the proposed parking garage) of Deer Valley Resorts’ master planned development and conditional use permit applications.  The City Council and mayor punted when they had the chance to address the crippling traffic problems getting in and out of Snow Park in connection with Deer Valley’s application to vacate the right of way along Deer Valley Drive.Instead, the mayor and council let Deer Valley snooker them into a “public private partnership agreement” based on unfavorable terms that don’t address the traffic issues. Shockingly, the council agreed to a greater number of parking spaces than currently exists at Snow Park, a public infrastructure district that would allow Deer Valley to enjoy more favorable financing for the new Snow Park parking garage, and, to boot, the city matching — with our own tax money — Deer Valley’s paltry $15 million commitment to a remote transit center and/or lower income housing that will have little or no impact on the Snow Park traffic disaster.Now, Deer Valley is attempting to get around the 1,360 day skier parking cap for the proposed parking garage. Deer Valley wants to use 250 of the additional 611 parking spaces in the proposed garage designated for commercial use for Deer Valley’s “ski club” members. Deer Valley tells the Planning Commission the bonds that will be issued through the public infrastructure district for the parking garage cannot be repaid unless Deer Valley can charge for all 1,360 day skier spaces.    Simply put, ski club members are day skiers. This is just another example of Deer Valley’s ruthless tactics to get what it wants without regard for mitigating the traffic issues. Deer Valley would rather have another 250 day skiers clog our streets than absorb the cost of its ski club members for using the 1,360 day skier spaces. Deer Valley is simply trying to scare the Planning Commission that the parking garage can’t be paid for unless ski club members are excluded from being classified as day skiers.  The only way to mitigate the traffic in and out of Snow Park is to significantly reduce the number of day skier parking spaces from the 1,360. No matter how many parking spaces there are, and no matter how many passengers are in the vehicles, those parking spaces will be filled on most ski days. We’re fools to believe that carpooling and increased use of public transportation alone will mitigate the traffic.Robert BoonePark CityThe post Snow Park traffic appeared first on Park Record.