Industry News
Last year an appeal by four Park City locals stopped the construction of new lifts at Park City Mountain Resort in Utah that had previously been approved. Park City Mountain had planned to upgrade the Eagle and Silverlode lifts on the Mountain Village side of the resort. A new high-speed eight-chair was going to replace the old Silverlode lift and was sent to Whistler instead. Park City Mountain owner Vail Resorts said in earnings reports that the blocked project cost the company millions. As the proposal didn’t require a vote, it was reviewed and approved by former city planning director Gretchen Milliken in January 2022.
According to the four Park City locals, who had filed the appeal, the lift upgrades would result in Park City Mountain exceeding its “Comfortable Carrying Capacity” (or short “CCC”). The CCC is the maximum legal occupancy of the resort and its lifts. The planning commission granted the appeal in June 2022.
One of the four locals who had filed the appeal, Angela Moschetta, said that the increase in lift capacity will not alleviate the big lines in Park City. When the resort upgraded Silverlode from a four-chair to a six-chair, lines supposedly became worse. She is demanding that Vail Resorts be held accountable for the terms of its development agreement.
Vail Resorts subsequently appealed the planning commission’s decision. This appeal will be in the Third District Court today, Monday, November 13. Vail Resorts contends in its deposition that the Park City planning commission acted outside its scope and illegally granted the appeal. The development agreement from 1998 should be viewed as a “dynamic road map” and not as an exact blueprint.
