Mike Pfeiffer and wife Nancy Pfeiffer on Wednesday evening were pleased with what they learned about Deer Valley Resort’s plans for a major development on the land where the parking lots outside Snow Park Lodge are now located.

They live in Thaynes Canyon and own a condominium in lower Deer Valley. The Pfeiffers were part of a large crowd that gathered at Snow Park Lodge for an open house to learn about Deer Valley’s concept for a Snow Park project.

Mike Pfeiffer said in an interview he is “super-excited” about the prospects of the development. He talked about what he sees as an improvement to the traffic flow in the Snow Park area that is included in the concept. Pfeiffer is interested in learning the details of the overall idea.

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“It needs to be updated,” he said about Snow Park, adding, “I think the community will benefit from just an enhanced experience with the village.”

But another person who attended the open house on Wednesday evening, Kimball Junction resident Douglas Hoisington, described the concept as a “quantum shift” from the Snow Park of today. He noted one of the possible amenities shown on renderings of the concept.

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“I just want to go skiing . . . I’m not going to go to the ice rink,” he said.

Hoisington praised the idea to upgrade the lift linking Snow Park and Silver Lake Village but was overall critical.

“This is a Deer Valley capital improvement. This is about making money,” he said.

The comments by the Pfeiffers and Hoisington illustrate the wide-ranging opinions about the concept for Snow Park as Deer Valley prepares to engage the Park City Planning Commission in high-profile discussions about the ambitious project. There are development rights attached to the land where the parking lots are located dating to the 1970s, when the approval for Deer Valley was granted by City Hall. Deer Valley, though, must secure another approval prior to work starting on a project at Snow Park.

The concept involves a hotel, other lodging options, commercial spaces, dining and entertainment, essentially a remaking of the Snow Park base area. Deer Valley would build large garages to account for the parking spots that are lost as the lots are developed.

Deer Valley hosted five open houses during the week — four of them for the public and the other for resort staffers. Deer Valley said nearly 500 people attended over the course of the five events, which were held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The crowds perused a series of informational boards explaining the project. There were also renderings on display. Deer Valley officials and members of the resort’s development team answered questions covering a broad range of topics.

One of the Wednesday open houses drew a contingent from City Hall led by Park City Manager Matt Dias. The municipal officials appeared to be in attendance to learn about the concept rather than present the City Hall role in the process.

The upcoming discussions between Deer Valley and the Park City Planning Commission will likely be monitored by Parkites across the community given the magnitude of the possible development and the high-profile location of the land at one of the bases of Deer Valley. There have been early concerns expressed by people who live or have properties close to Snow Park, including worries about possible changes to the traffic pattern. The Planning Commission is expected to heavily debate topics like traffic, parking and the project layout, and there is a likelihood panel hearings will draw supporters and detractors.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to address the concept at a special meeting on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Officials shifted the location from the normal setting of the Marsac Building to the Prospector Square Theater, 2175 Sidewinder Drive, to accommodate a larger crowd. City Hall says there is limited parking at the location and officials suggest riding a bus or carpooling to the meeting. More information is available on the municipal website, http://www.parkcity.org. The direct link to information about the meeting is: https://www.parkcity.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/39051/14?curdate=12-19-2022.​