Park City housing proposal advances amid traffic, height concerns

At Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard, a 5-acre Bonanza Park housing plan would put 106 rental homes, more than 30,000 square feet of commercial and community space and a childcare site. The first step is a 4 p.m. site visit, followed by a 5:30 p.m. discussion at the Marsac Building; the session is an introduction, not a hearing.

Park City is pursuing the project with Brinshore Development LLC on city-owned land at the southwest corner of the two major roads. The preliminary plan approved by the City Council in March in a 4-1 vote calls for 88 income-restricted rentals and 18 market-rate units, along with space for retailers, restaurants, cafes and nonprofit arts uses.

The central planning fight now turns on what the commission can still shape: building height, the amount of density on the site and how much the project gives back in affordability. The underlying zoning allows structures up to 35 feet, with an additional 5 feet depending on roof design, but the current proposal reaches 53 feet, 6 inches. That difference has fueled concern from Park City Heights residents and other critics who say the project’s scale, views and traffic impacts are too large for such a prominent corner.

The development fits a long-running effort to keep workers from being priced out of Park City’s resort-driven housing market and to bring more daily trips closer to where people work. The proposal’s housing mix is also meant to add some socioeconomic diversity to a city where lodging, service and other employees often commute from elsewhere in Summit County. Critics want the city to use the site for park space instead of a large building complex.

Park City bought the land in 2017 for $19 million, initially floated an arts-and-culture district there and later reset the plan after projected costs climbed above $100 million. Summit County has set a goal of approving 1,500 affordable housing units over the next decade, while Park City once set a target of 800 affordable units in a decade to preserve the share of the workforce living inside city limits.

A similar city-led push at Clark Ranch near Quinn’s Junction has already drawn organized opposition over density, market-rate units and whether Park City should build on flatter land east of U.S. 40 instead of adding more homes near Park City Heights.