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Panel openings could be your chance to help decide Treasure’s fate

by Jay Hamburger OF THE RECORD STAFF

City Hall is accepting applications from people who want to serve on the Park City Planning Commission, an influential panel that referees many development-related issues and has been the group engaged in the long-running Treasure talks.

The terms of Julia Pettit and Mick Savage expired in July. Pettit said she plans to submit an application to retain her seat on the seven-member panel. Savage is a recent addition to the Planning Commission and would secure a full four-year term if he is reappointed. The Park Record was unable to contact Savage. The Planning Department said he has indicated he will reapply.

Nobody had submitted an application by Thursday afternoon. The deadline is Aug. 27.

People interested in one of the positions must live within the Park City limits.

Planning Commissioners are paid $100 per meeting and receive Racquet Club privileges. The panel typically meets twice a month on Wednesday evenings, and some of the meetings extend into the nighttime hours.

The Planning Commission is widely seen as ranking second in influence of all of City Hall’s panels, behind only the Park City Council. Mayor Dana Williams and the City Council will eventually interview the people vying for the Planning Commission spots and then select two.

Developers of numerous types of projects must win support from the Planning Commission before they are able to proceed, and in many cases the panel has the authority to approve or deny a project outright, barring an appeal to the City Council.

Meetings occasionally draw widespread interest from regular Parkites, but attendance has been scattered recently as Park City has suffered through a development slowdown amid the recession.

The Planning Commission, though, is the panel that has spent years in talks with the Sweeney family about the family’s Treasure development proposal on the slopes of Park City Mountain Resort on the edge of Old Town. Treasure has consistently drawn the largest crowds to Planning Commission meetings in the past few years.

The Planning Commission will return to its role in the Treasure discussions when they restart later should City Hall and the Sweeney family not reach a conservation accord for the full acreage.

Planning Commissioners also have a key role as City Hall rewrites its General Plan, a wide-ranging documents that guides growth within the city.

Applications will be available on City Hall’s website, http://www.parkcity.org. They are also available at the Planning Department on the main level of the Marsac Building. For more information, contact the Planning Department at 615-5060.


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