PARK CITY — A new developer in this resort town has rare power. It is exempt from local zoning laws. So it soon may build a huge hotel/condominium project on a pristine hillside that the city had long planned to preserve as open space.

Since local officials cannot stop it through zoning, they are trying to use millions of dollars to lure the developer to a different site. The developer who may reap such bounty also happens to be heavily armed — with missiles, bombers and fighters, no less.

It is the U.S. Air Force.

Why is the Air Force suddenly in the Park City hotel business? It "would benefit service members worldwide from all branches" with "an affordable way ... to visit Park City and enjoy its R&R opportunities," says a written statement from Hill Air Force Base.

Terry Morris, Hill's director of plans and programs, adds the military seeks to build a big, world-class hotel resort there — on par with a few big ones that the military now operates with discounts for its personnel at Walt Disney World and in Hawaii, the German Alps and Korea.

Ironically, that big goal sprouted from an effort to replace a small lodge — which some described as a glorified cabin — that Hill once owned at Snow Basin.

The tale behind that — and how local officials are waging an expensive fight against an entity not subject to its zoning — twists through the 2002 Olympics, the U.S. Congress, the Pentagon, local hardball business maneuvers and even some Iraq war politics.

Along the way, that has led to accusations that the the city and its fight are anti-military or unpatriotic, or that the military is using its exemption to zoning laws to exploit local environmental worries to enrich itself and its developer partners.

Dispute's roots

The story began with early preparations for the 2002 Olympics.

Snowbasin Ski Area near Ogden said it needed some adjacent federal land for improvements to host crowds at Olympic downhill ski events. Congress ordered the trades — including a parcel with a small, chalet-style lodge called Hillhaus, which was demolished.

Hill Air Force Base had owned Hillhaus since 1964. It originally had 44 beds, dormitory style, for single airmen. It was remodeled later into a handful of hotel rooms and a cafe as a low-cost getaway for military members to enjoy as a perk to improve morale.

But Air Force inspectors long complained that Hillhaus continually lost money and should be closed or revamped. That became moot when the Olympics led to its demolition.

However, former Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, said Hill officials were upset at losing the small lodge and sought his assistance to find land for a replacement.