Deer Valley Resort on Monday evening showcased the concept for a major development at the Snow Park base, drawing a large crowd of resort staffers on the day before a similar event was scheduled for the public.

There were dozens of people at Snow Park Lodge at any one time as the staffers arrived, studied the concept and dined on Deer Valley refreshments like turkey chili before departing. The Deer Valley staffers moved between a variety of renderings and other visual aids designed to outline what would be an ambitious redevelopment of the base area that anchors lower Deer Valley.

There are development rights attached to the parking lots outside the lodge dating to the 1970s-era overall Deer Valley approval issued by Park City. The rights have remained intact over the decades, and Deer Valley is moving forward in the early stages of the talks about a project. The resort must secure another approval from the municipal government before the development can commence. Deer Valley is scheduled to appear at a Park City Planning Commission meeting on Monday.

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There has seemed to be some support in the community, at least on a conceptual level, for a development outside Snow Park. A project is envisioned to involve a hotel, other lodging options, commercial spaces, dining and entertainment. Large garages would be built to account for the parking spots that are lost as the project is developed. A mobility center would be developed to anchor the transportation elements of the project.

There is expected to be significant debate during the Planning Commission review, though, about topics like the design of the buildings, the layout, traffic patterns and transportation. The event on Monday highlighted the topics as the Deer Valley staffers chatted with members of the development team and studied the renderings.

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There has been public interest in those topics, including an idea from Deer Valley to tinker with the traffic pattern on a small but strategically located street called Doe Pass Road. The Deer Valley concept proposes to shift vehicular access to the Snow Park base from a section of Deer Valley Drive, sometimes referred to as Deer Valley Drive South, to Doe Pass Road. Both of the roads would carry two-way traffic under the idea.

The concept involves City Hall vacating a section of road on the edge of the Snow Park parking lots and receiving the dedication of a different stretch of road nearby as part of the project’s traffic circulation designs.

A mobility lane shared by buses and bicyclists would be added. The lane would be built on the sections of Deer Valley Drive sometimes referred to with their east and west directions added to the street name.

Deer Valley sees the road proposal as something that would improve access as well as increase safety.

One of the boards on display on Monday listed what Deer Valley sees as the benefits of the concept of City Hall vacating a road section, including the mobility center, the prioritization of transit and a traffic signal that, according to the board, would allow “for transit control and ability to flush cars at peak times.” The idea of City Hall vacating the road, though, is one of the key topics for critics and will likely be heavily debated by the sides during the upcoming review.

The visuals on display on Monday included designs for a village square. The wintertime image showed an ice-skating rink while the summertime setting included green space where the rink is located.

Two open houses for the public were scheduled on Tuesday while an additional two are planned on Wednesday. The events on Wednesday are scheduled from 2:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. and from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on the Snow Park Lodge second level. Deer Valley requests an online RSVP at https://www.deervalley.com/Form%20Submissions/Snow-Park-Open-House-RSVP.​