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PARK CITY — A new gondola serving the Canyons Village area of the Park City Resort was approved Tuesday by the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission.
Canyons is seeking a low-impact permit for the gondola, which technically only requires an internal administrative review, but because of the size and scope of the project, Community Development Director Patrick Putt presented the project to the planning commission for public input.
"The fact that it was unanimous is a big deal," said Robert Oppenheim, 54, who has been traveling from New York to ski at Canyons Village for 16 years, and owns an apartment at the Lift Lodge. "I think everybody understands the Canyons is not sustainable as a destination without it."
Oppenheim and many other stakeholders in the community, including Park City Chamber President Jennifer Wesselhoff and Fraser Bullock, who heads the committee bidding for the 2034 Winter Olympics, submitted letters to support the project. Letters were also submitted by homeowners in the area.
"We will occasionally get a letter of support here and there for something," said Tiffanie Robinson, the Summit County planner assigned to the project. "But it was certainly unprecedented to see that amount of public input in favor of a project." Robinson said around 1,400 residents close to the project site were notified by the county, and the resort was very active in public outreach.
This project has been a long time coming for many residents.
"I want the resort to be vibrant and well run, and investing in lift systems is a great thing," said Lance Wallin, 63, who purchased his condo in 2013.
According to Wallin, "It's very likely a lot of those people bought their condos with the anticipation of a new lift." Oppenheim agreed, stating in his letter of support that the project was one reason he purchased a unit at Lift Lodge.
The Sunrise Gondola would carry passengers 6,500 feet, following the contours of the mountain closely in order to mitigate the wind closures other lifts on that side of the mountain often experience. According to Robinson, the project has been a goal for years.
"Even prior to Vail being involved, there was always anticipation that, throughout the resort, there were going to be these major connectors," she said.
In 2022, proposed lift improvements on the Park City Mountain side of the resort were appealed by local residents, who argued the resort was not in compliance with their governing development agreement. The Park City planning council upheld this appeal, which was related to the increased chairlift capacity of the proposal triggering additional parking requirements, and a lift upgrade was judged as being out of scope of the original agreement.
These issues were not at play for the new gondola proposal, according to Robinson. "It is not creating access to new skiable terrain, it is not increasing the capacity. It's getting folks to the same location just faster."
No bill for transit services
County officials became aware of a noncompliance issue with the development agreements between Summit County and Canyons Village, threatening to derail any recommendation.
It was found that Canyons Village had not contributed to the fee-free public transit operation, High Valley Transit, since it was established in 2021. High Valley Transit had continued to service the resort locations despite no compensation being provided. A public records request, however, indicated the ski resort had not been billed for services rendered.
When city officials raised concerns to the applicants, they promptly requested the agenda item be delayed until January.
"There were some rumblings that maybe something was outstanding, and the county acknowledged that, yes, it's outstanding," said Robinson. "Over the holidays, they were able to make sure that everybody was on the same page, any fees that needed to be paid, were all paid."
Summit County Councilman Chris Robinson, a High Valley Transit board member, explained the situation, saying that in 1999, the precursor to the Canyons ski resort formed a development agreement with Summit County, reimbursing the county for transit services within the resort. Periodically, this agreement was amended and changed. The last agreement expired in December of 2019.
"There was intent to renew it," Robinson said, "but lots of things happened thereafter and parties have been slow to focus on renewing it." Changing county management, the pandemic and the formation of High Valley Transit in 2021 put the agreement on the back burner.
I want the resort to be vibrant and well run, and investing in lift systems is a great thing.
–Lance Wallin, condo owner
At the December meeting, Snyderville Basin Planning Commissioner Thomas Cooke said, "Two things can be true at the same time. We can overwhelmingly support this project and then we can also acknowledge that, under the development agreement, there are certain obligations between the developer and the county." Vail used the continuance of the public hearing to pay an initial $1.5 million until the total bill can be calculated. A new agreement and settlement of past services are expected to be finalized by the end of February.
The planning commission also added a new provision to address this discrepancy, stating, "Prior to commencement of construction activity, the county manager shall confirm that the applicant is not in default of any requirements of the Amended and Restated Development Agreement, including the Transportation Management Plan."
What's next
Canyons Village Management Association oversees the development of one of two Park City Mountain bases. Park City Mountain, owned by Vail Resorts, has entered into a joint agreement with the Canyons Village to undertake the new gondola project. An estimated $18 million will be used to purchase the 10-passenger gondola, with another $9 million going towards "non-lift costs," according to the funding agreement. With a total estimated project budget of $27 million, Canyons Village has a contribution of 42%, up to a cap of $9.24 million. Vail Resorts will own the gondola lift system.
According to Sara Huey, director of communications for Park City, the next step is establishing a lift corridor on the mountain during the summer of 2024, requiring tree removal and improvements of utility and infrastructure.
In the winter of 2025, the resort plans to operate the Sunrise Chairlift as usual. Then, in the summer of 2025, the resort will remove the existing chairlift and install the Sunrise Gondola to be operational for the 2025-26 ski season. It has not yet signed a contract for the manufacture of the new gondola.
