After visiting the site of a 10,000 square-foot proposed home on Mountain Top Drive on Wednesday, Sept. 19, the Summit County Council decided in a 4-to-1 vote that the proposed location was preferable than the original site lower down the ridgeline.

"The issue is, do we prefer to have the impact to the ridgeline more clustered with the existing development or a little less clustered but further away," Councilmember Chris Robinson said. "Both locations are going to protrude into the skyline. My opinion is that it's OK to move it up the hill. I would rather see less homes and have it a little further away from the existing cluster."

He did, however, say the applicants, Roger Goldman and Rana Tahtinen, need to abide by the 26-foot height limit as now specified in the Synderville Basin Development Code.

Most of the council agreed with Robinson.

"It was a close call, but I believe it will have less impact with the location the applicants desire, but at 26 feet," Councilmember Claudia McMullin said.

The home was originally proposed by a previous owner in 2005 for a 27-foot tall roofline, and an appeal was granted in 2006 to increase the home height to 32 feet at Goldman's and Tahtinen's request after they took over the property.

At that time, the Synderville Basin Development Code did not have specific height requirements for ridgeline homes. But because Goldman and Tahtinen failed to build their home within 180 days of receiving a building permit in 2007, the approval for the 32-foot height expired.

When Goldman and Tahtinen requested a new low-impact permit last year, they requested a building permit to build higher up on the ridgeline, with the 32-foot height allowance reinstated.

Staff recommended the Summit County Council deny the proposals on account that the location and height of the home was not consistent with the goals and policies of the Snyderville Basin General Plan or Development Code.

But the council voted to overturn the staff's findings. "This is not to throw dirt in anyone's face. This is a way to see things in different proportion and different perspective," Council Chair Dave Ure said.

Sally Elliot cast the dissenting vote. While she agreed with the others about the height, she said the impact of the home will be much less severe if it is situated in the original lower location.

"I think the impact on Park City and the impact on neighbors will be much less if they stick with the original location," Elliott said.