From Deseret News archives:
Summit again rejects Sun Peak hotel
Developer wants to build 326-room lodge on basin site
The board met to vote on the appeal made by Chicago-based developer Terrace Development Partners. The developer wants to build the 326-room, 275,000-square-foot Sun Canyon Lodge on Bear Hollow Drive at the Sun Peak housing development in Snyderville Basin. That site is just north of the Olympic Park.
After the Summit County Commission denied the building plans last spring, the developer appealed the decision and sued the county.
"It does not appear, as Stephen Colbert would say, what 'hoteliness' it would have," BOA Chairman Tom Clyde said of the project.
The project has a long history in Summit County.
In 2001, the Summit County Commission approved preliminary site plans, which called for a 140-room hotel/condominium complex, with lockouts. In August 2005, the developer brought the final site plans back to the county for approval.
However, the revised plan eliminated the lockouts and contained 140 units in various arrangements for a total of 326 bedrooms. The developer also submitted the plan as a residential development.
County commissioners eventually rejected the plans in March 2006. That's when Terrace Development Partners sued the county for $2.1 million and appealed the commissioner's decision to the Board of Adjustments.
"The consensus that we appear to have among the board is that the preliminary approval by the county commission rated approval for a 140-unit complex. One-hundred-forty doorknobs, each had two-bedrooms and a kitchen behind it with a parking requirement based on hotel occupancy," Clyde said.
"This does not appear to be consistent with the preliminary approval."
He added the location is at a site where "it makes no sense to build a hotel" because it runs into a primary residential project. The Sun Peak Homeowners Association has vocally opposed the project.
According to the draft decision the board unanimously approved Thursday, the project contains 140 hallway doors leading to 326 rooms that are configured from one-bedroom to six-bedroom complexes.
In addition, the decision reads: "Contrary to the Preliminary plan's commercial status, the final plan contemplates a residential project that specifically lacks the amenities necessary or reasonable to the operation of a hotel."
Developer Jim Haft said Thursday night he did not want to comment until he had time to read over the seven-page decision. He said he would provide a statement today.
Clyde said now developers could go back to court or start anew with the county with a whole new set of plans.
The Utah Athletic Foundation, which now owns and operates the state-owned Olympic Park, wants developers to build the hotel on 30 acres of property there.
The private foundation is millions in the red and a hotel could bring some much-needed revenue. Because the proposed land is owned by the state, the Legislature would have to give approval for the project. Such a proposal was submitted during the 2006 legislative session, but the Legislature adjourned without taking final action.
Located near Kimball Junction, the park was home to bobsled, skeleton, luge and ski-jumping competitions during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
E-Mail: astowell@desnews.com
