Town striving not to be just for rich 2nd-home owners

PARK CITY — Officials here are banking on two new affordable-housing projects — plus long-standing development ordinances — to save the town from becoming made up of wealthy second-home owners.

But city housing director Phyllis Robinson said there's almost no chance of building the 300 additional affordable-housing units the city will need by 2010. Adding to its woes, the city may be working against itself by purchasing huge tracts of open space using taxpayer money.

There are about 465 deed-controlled affordable-housing units in Park City, comprising about 6 percent of the city's total housing projects.

Joe Kernan has owned one of those homes since he moved to the resort town from Pittsburgh in 1996. The city councilman was allowed to purchase the affordable home after putting himself on a waiting list during a ski vacation.

"I think affordable housing really allows people to make a long-term commitment to the community," said Kernan, who rents out one of the three bedrooms in his home. "I think it's really awesome. It allows them to build a life here."

One of the planned projects will be funded by fees collected from developers and property tax increment projects. The city plans to build 13 single-family homes in a flat stretch of land near Dan's Super Market on Snow Creek Drive. When they're built, the city will hold a raffle for eligible would-be homeowners and sell the homes below cost.

The other project is expected to be built across the street from an Intermountain Healthcare hospital under construction at Quinn's Junction, at the intersection of state routes 40 and 248. The project, if approved, will be annexed into the city. It is expected to include about 150 market-rate lots and about 50 affordable units, to be served by a new park-and-ride service connecting to the city's free buses.

The affordable units in the Quinns Junction project must be built according to a Park City ordinance mandating that 15 percent of new housing be affordable. The ordinance also requires businesses to mitigate housing demand for 20 percent of their new workers.

The Park City Heights Project fills the housing requirements for several projects, including the new hospital. The annexation application, which if approved would OK the housing project, is working its way through the City Council. The Snow Creek project is being heard by the Planning Commission.

Both projects have garnered criticism during public hearings from residents who are concerned about decreasing property values, increased traffic and potential problems such as increased crime. But at least one City Council member, Roger Harlan, feels building affordable housing is magnanimous.