Opponents of a Bonanza Park development proposal involving the Park City municipal government continued to criticize the project on Wednesday, covering a range of issues during a Marsac Building meeting. The Park City Planning Commission held a hearing but did not discuss the proposal. The meeti ng was held shortly after the developer’s side requested the Planning Commission temporarily delay further discussions until revised designs are available. Mayor Ryan Dickey and the Park City Council are expected to receive an update about the proposal soon. The municipal government is one side of the partnership pursuing the project. The meeting on Wednesday did not draw a large crowd after previous ones regarding the proposal had been well attended. The smaller attendance number was likely a result of public statements from the partnership prior to Wednesday regarding the design revisions. The people who testified generally broached issues that have been widely discussed by the opposition in recent months. The Planning Commission received approximately 25 minutes of testimony. Erin Shaffer, who resides in a ZIP code that generally encompasses the Park City limits, worried about the height of the proposal. Park City’s development rules are meant to protect “the historic small town character of Park City” and protect “our iconic mountain view corridors,” she said. “Allowing a mega-developer to build massive four-story structures right at one of only two main entryways into town completely violates our General Plan,” she said, referring to the document that guides growth in Park City. Shaffer added: “It trades scenic mountain ridgelines for a dense urban wall.” Shaffer also spoke about the history of the land, where an arts and culture district was once envisioned. “Let’s be clear about what the community actually wants. We were promised an arts district, but if the city is abandoning this vision, we don’t want a massive, dense development here. We want a beautiful public park that keeps our small-town mountain feel. We want an open gateway, not a towering wall of concrete,” she said. Brad Smith, who lives in Silver Lake, described the City Council as prioritizing special interests and the profit margin of a developer. “While the Planning Commission is the body reviewing these zoning requests tonight, we all know how we got here. Our City Council members pushed this concept forward. And in doing so they’ve shown a severe disconnect with the community at large and the community mandate,” he said, adding that the proposal provides “massive zoning loopholes to a developer.” Dave Farrell, a resident of the ZIP code generally covering the Park City limits, spoke about the years of work in Park City to preserve land as open space. He noted critical comments last summer by former Mayor Jack Thomas, who was in office when the municipal government acquired the land nearly a decade ago. “We have a multi-decade legacy of paying a premium to protect our gateways and preserve our small town feel. Even the visionary leaders who built that legacy look at what is happening at Bonanza Park, and they are taking a step back, saying this is too much. It’s too big. It’s too dense,” he said. He added: “If the visionary leaders that started this are taking a step back, I’m wondering why the City Council is not recognizing that. … I’m hoping that the Planning Commission can do what the City Council is not doing. Please take a hard look at what this does to the city. We’ve already got gridlock coming in off of Kimball Junction and going out off of Kearns.” The municipal government owns the land and is partnering with a Chicago-area firm called Brinshore Development LLC on the project. The project stretches approximately 5 acres inward from the southwest corner of the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard. The proposal entails: 88 units of income-restricted rentals. 18 rentals without income restrictions. More than 30,000 square feet for a variety of tenants, such as retailers, restaurants, cafes and art spaces for not-for-profit organizations A childcare location. Two of the 5 acres are described as open space. The post Bonanza Park project criticized as trading ‘scenic mountain ridgelines for a dense urban wall’ appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less