in Weather
Feeling Hot Hot Hot
I’ve been doing some research on historical temperatures around Park City to better understand how Park City weather has changed over the past decades. Using NOAA data, the longest continuous set of data from a weather station seems to be from Parley’s Summit. Data goes back about 28 years.
The hottest day on record was September 7, 2004. It was almost 101 degrees that day. Looks like we could challenge that this week.
Have a Kid Who Likes Bikes? Join us at the Sheriff’s Bike Rodeo on Tuesday!
The Sheriff’s office, in junction with the Health Department, are holding a bike rodeo on Tuesday (6/23) from 4-6PM at the Sheriff’s office. They plan on having a bicycle safety course, bike/helmet inspections, and even hot dogs and prizes.
Even if your child doesn’t like bikes yet, but would love meeting a “police man”, they plan on having Sheriff’s motorcycles and bicycles on display too. It should be a great event and it’s a nice way to kick off the official start to Summer.
The New Whole Foods Tap Room Is Likely More Than the Developer Is Indicating
As many people know, a developer wants to restructure a development agreement for an area across from Ruby Tuesdays called “Canyon Corners” in order to put in a new Whole Foods (and other retail). I previously had concerns that the “Tap Room” addition to the grocery store should require the developer to meet both affordable housing requirements and traffic impacts like its both both a grocery and a bar/tavern.
This Tuesday, the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission is holding a public hearing regarding the Canyon Corners development. In the Staff Report, it makes reference to the tap room and says:
“At the May 12, 2015 Planning Commission meeting concerns were expressed that the use of Building A would exceed that of a grocery store, as there was a “tap room” proposed. The applicant has clarified what this would entail, and indicated that it would be an additional component in the overall deli/prepared foods area of the store. There are no plans to use the site as a type of night club, bar or speakeasy, rather the applicant envisions it as secondary to the primary use.”
First, as I stated in the previous article, I love the idea of a tap room. I just wish it could have Rogue Dead Guy Ale on tap. That said, traffic and affordable housing are big issues and we need to make sure we account for each appropriately and accurately in every development agreement.
While it appears there are assurances from the Developer that the tap room is just part the deli, I’m not so sure. First, let’s look at the press release from Whole Foods:
“This store will be the first Whole Foods Market in Utah to feature its own taproom with local beer and wine on tap, as well as a world-class resort pub menu with separate fast casual dining and pub seating inside the store.”
That doesn’t sound like it’s just part of the deli and prepared foods section.
Second, do a quick search for Whole Foods Tap Room on Yelp. First, your average Supermarket Deli doesn’t get lots of Yelp reviews. I happened to look at Reno’s Whole Foods Tap Room. Here is an example review:
“Great beer selection & tastes food. Bartender was kinda swamped, they need more servers, but she was nice (and hot). Would recommend if you are looking for great beers and delicious food. Only complaint was the hippy guy bugging me about how awesome the place was ( I am pretty sure he worked at the whole foods). Anyway, go, drink, eat.”
Again, this doesn’t seem like the soft drink station next to the slices of pizza. It seems like, well something similar to the Red Rock in the Salt Lake City Airport. It’s not going to be a Studio 54 but it’s not going to be the 6 chairs in front of Starbucks at Fresh Market either.
Third, let’s look at the menu of one of the Whole Foods “Lone Elm” Tap Room in Kansas. It seems like your average brewery menu. Here is page 1 of the the Tap Room’s menu. They do seem to vary by location, so perhaps we have guarantees that this won’t turn into a mini Squatters.
The final reason I have concerns over this is related to what these look like. Here are some pics of Whole Foods Tap Rooms:
Please don’t get me wrong, I hope the new Whole Foods has a tap room, and I hope it is was on the most unique bars and restaurants in Park City. I hope it ends up with an outside patio. I even hope they follow the lead of the Whole Food Tap Room in Columbus that let’s local breweries take over the bar for “Thirsty Thursdays.”
Yet, I also know how much of a mess traffic can will be on Landmark Drive by the Outlet Mall. If the tap room component of Whole Foods reaches anything near its potential it will exacerbate that. Likewise, while there is now an affordable housing component to this development, it should be in line with those required by a bar/restaurant. Perhaps not at the full requirement but somewhere in between.
I hope when the Planning Commission looks at this part of the development, they will go beyond what the developer says and plan for the likelihood that this little bar and restaurant is going to be pretty busy.
Is The Park City City Council Risking a Bad Outcome With Mountain Accord?
I received an anonymous comment about yesterday’s Park City City Council Meeting on Mountain Accord. The person makes a very good point about how the Mountain Accord may play itself out, given how the city council is approaching the issue.
It seems the only council member not willing to risk a bad outcome for Park City (by trusting Mountain Accord) is Dick Peek and he is retiring this year. That’s not good news.
According to the individual…
The Park City council voted 4 – 1 last night YES to Mountain Accord studying all non auto connections between Park City and the Cottonwood Canyons. The dissenting vote (The Mayor doesn’t vote but stated his opposition) was from council member Dick Peek who stated that he would not be willing to subject Park City to the risk of trains and tunnels, which are included in such study. There was no comment by those voting YES. On KPCW today council member Tim Henney explained why he supports a Mountain Accord study of all non auto connections between Park City and the Cottonwood Canyons. “The Guardsman Pass road is the big worry. If UDOT opened that up to year round use it would be a nightmare. Trains and tunnels would be a far better outcome.”
So now we are seeing some of the Mountain Accord play book, and the behind the scenes lobbying. When UDOT threatens the year round Guardsman Pass road opening, the Park City City Council will be able to “save” us from the “nightmare” with trains and tunnels! Never mind that UDOT has estimated that a year round Guardsman Pass road would cost 100 million + $, not including standard maintenance costs; and that part of the road is not owned by UDOT at all, but instead Wasatch county; and that it would seem almost, if not impossible for UDOT to acquire the necessary right of ways from the top of empire pass down Marsac Ave to Deer Valley Drive.
Council members voting YES: Beerman, Simpson, Henney, Matsumoto. NO: Peek.
Along those exact lines and with no comment they also voted to approve the Mountain Accord Interlocal funding agreement, obligating PC to pay $100,000 per year for the next three years.
h/t to the community member who provided this warning to the community.
in Skiing
My How PCMR Has Grown since 1974
Curbed Ski has a great article with maps of PCMR starting in 1974 through today. Wow. How time has flown.
PCMR in 1974:
PCMR Today:
in Park City
Who Steals A Sign Asking Drivers to Slow Down? Twice!
Earlier this week I wrote about how speeders had overtaken dogs as public enemy #1 in Jeremy Ranch. As part of that article I noted that one home had put up a sign in the yard asking drivers to slow down.
It appears it was stolen by… uh… I guess someone who wanted to drive over the speed limit. A few days later it was replaced with a new sign.
It was stolen again.
Normally one might chalk that up to some teenagers having “fun”, but if a sign is stolen twice, that’s probably not your average 14 year old. What will be taken next? Those turtle signs you see in every neighborhood that say “Slow down, small children playing.” It’s frankly crazy.
The issue is that speeding near that house is a really bad idea. The house sits right before a blind curve. Right down the street I’ve seen little children riding their bikes down the driveway and turn into the bike lane. Let alone, there are countless people riding bikes and walking dogs up the hill. At 25 MPH (the speed limit) you have some control around a curve. At 50 MPH… not so much.
A few months ago I wrote an article entitled, Park City Has Changed, Is It the Growth or the People?. This incident would probably point to the latter.
To the person who has had their signs stolen, I’ll be happy to pay for more for your yard. I hate stupidity. Let’s put 10 of them in your yard and borrow my neighbor’s deer camera to help catch them if they come back.
To the person who is stealing these signs, I hope it’s worth it. If something happens to someone in Jeremy Ranch due to a driver going too fast, it’s now on you. I hope you can live with that.
in Development
Live Blog of Tonight’s Summit County Council Meeting
Tonight I am covering the County Council Meeting regarding the General Plan. I’ll try to cover it blow by blow:
Forget Dogs… In Jeremy Ranch It’s Speed That Kills
As many of you know, I live in Jeremy Ranch. It’s an interesting place. It’s where trails, Salt Lake, and Park City meet. While to the greater Park City community, dogs have dominated the headlines. In Jeremy Ranch, it’s far different. Enemy #1 is the speeder.
While I have read three to four editorials in the Park Record about bad dogs owners, the number of people complaining about speeders on a local Jeremy website has reached almost forty. According to reports, the issue started with a local, favorite fox being run over and has expanded to a dog being hit while it was “playing hide and seek with the kids.”
People are taping posters to their garbage cans telling people to slow down. Signs are being placed in yards. The Sheriff has even been called in. It reminds me of the old west.
I would somewhat scoff at the idea of a dog getting hit while playing “hide and seek” with the kids in the road but it is Park City and I did see a Porsche doing at least 50 up the main drag.
I guess there are problems everywhere (some might call them first world problems) but I don’t seem to remember these type of issues when I was growing up. I’m not sure if it’s worse or people just “care” more. May we live in interesting times.
in Schools
Is Park City School Board The Most Important Elected Office in Park City and Summit County?
Last night the Park City School Board held a public hearing and voted to approve the 2015/2016 Budget. The school district will spend $60 million next year. How many members of the public attended the 6PM hearing? Zero.
Was there anything controversial to discuss? I suppose it depends on your view. Two things stand out:
- Your taxes are going up next year.
- The School district is projected to spend more than it takes in through 2020.
Of course, there are reasons for those both to occur. Taxes are increasing due to state legislature decisions and the school district’s business administrator said that the deficits are due to front loading some of the costs of the new teacher contracts.
Still, no one showed. After following the school board closely for about a year, that’s the norm. Unlike the City and County Councils, where people will show up to provide their two cents on almost any issue, the school board members are left to go it alone with little public input. Given that, the public is placing their ultimate trust in those five board members — relying on them to make the right decisions.
So, with a budget bigger than Summit County, the responsibility for educating our children, and little community input, is it the most important elected position in our community? It sure seems like it.
in Schools
A Crowd Showed Up At the School Board To Plea for the School District To Reconsider Renewing Park City Baseball Coach’s Contract
Tonight 30 baseball players and 20 parents poured into the School District office to protest the district not renewing the contract of Park City high School Baseball Coach Lou Green.
Seven parents, coaches, and former players got up to speak in defense of Coach Green and to plead for the district to reconsider their stance. These people noted that Coach Green changed their lives, “was an amazing role model”, and grew youth baseball in Park City. Mike Stokes, who was a Park City Baseball coach last year, credits the the coach with changing the program. He said that until Coach Green arrived Park City players were often called “jerks” and acted poorly in many cases. He says that has all changed due to Coach Green.
The school board repeatedly stated that they were not responsible for employee matters. One member of the public said they are being told that the school board is ultimately responsible. The citizen said that supporters of Green want to know who they can talk to get the coach rehired.
In the only official response during the meeting, School Board Superintendent Dr Ember Conley commented that it is an adult matter and she “can’t get into it here.” She said that ultimately Administrative decisions are on her shoulders. She says that personnel decisions are private by law, so she can’t get into details of issues.
After the meeting I got the chance to speak to a few supporters of Coach Green. I asked their opinions on why the Coach Green’s contract was not being renewed. The supporters said that was the problem; they said no one, not even the coach, knew why he was not able to continue coaching at Park City High. One person noted that they were told there was something in Coach Green’s file that prevented the coach from being rehired but that the coach provided his file to parents of players and they saw nothing definitive.
Right now there seem to be a number of questions but a whole bunch of people who wish to see Coach Green back in the dugout. Hopefully the School District and Mr. Green can come to an agreement about what can be shared so the public can understand what has actually happened and decide what actions they should take based on the facts.
Parkrag
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