Planning commission debates work force housing

(The Park Record) The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission is reviewing proposals for two large subdivisions that could provide the west side of Summit County with a remarkable amount of work force housing.

The builders are two of the first to apply under a set of county guidelines meant to spur development of affordable homes in the expensive Park City real-estate market by allowing larger subdivisions in exchange for units that will stay lower priced. The discussions have just begun.

"This is to address any pent-up need for housing," Summit County planner Kimber Gabryszak said about the rules in a telephone interview.

A project proposed on Kilby Road west of the Gorgoza Tubing Park includes 215 units on approximately 71 acres. The plan includes 80 one- and two-bedroom senior housing units, 40 houses and 95 townhouses.

The subdivision would land next to Interstate 80 near Parleys Canyon.

"The Planning Commission wants to protect that view corridor," Gabryszak said. "They didn't like the development that was going to be highly visible from I-80."

Units were removed from the most visible parts of the parcel in the newest design, she said.

"In comparison to existing developments, it's not too dense," Gabryszak said about the size of the plan. "If you compare it to something like Silver Summit or Jeremy Ranch or lower Pinebrook, for example, it's very comparable to that."

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