Years ago when we were involved in
building Deer Valley we told ourselves that we might as well do it to make sure
it was done right, because someone else was going to do it anyway. When the Olympics came, we welcomed the world
here and then were surprised when half of them stayed. When Vail took over and tried to take our
town name we were outraged initially but were smugly satisfied when we ultimately
won the naming rights to our own home. A
rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Then when Covid came and folks came out to occupy their second home that
make up half of our town, we were understanding, but we never expected them to
stay and telecommute to Timbuktu forever.
It was these big decisions that shaped our future as well as the little,
day-to-day positive commitments like trial networks, open space, affordable
housing and round-abouts.
We chained ourselves to bulldozers
with cell phones and laptops, showed up Ad-Infinitum at meetings and spoke Ad-Nauseam
at public hearings, much to our dismay.
Zoning changes from 16 units to 1600 units were moderated and mitigated
but still approved at 1200 units when an obvious compromise of 808 units would
have been more than reasonable and palatable.
We took that sitting down but that set the stage for a pro-growth,
development friendly future. Backroom
deals with developers were rampant when money talked, and nobody walked in Park
City. Compromises and trade-offs were
made. When we stood our ground, the
State stepped in and limited the impact fees we could charge development to at
least pay for itself or they circumvented our input and approval process
completely in the name of affordable housing and mass transit. We never stood a chance.
It is the mind set of a cancer cell
to grow unrestrained, but it is ultimately human nature too. It happens everyplace good and nice despite
all of our NIMBY good intentions.
Sometimes I visualize what all this will look like at buildout, if that
ever comes. Every flat spot will have
something on it because this is a property-right, individual freedom type state
out here in the wild wild western USA. Will
we look like Phoenix, Boulder or Vail, or something nicer like Aspen, Carmel or
Stowe. Will the next new generation
still think it is nice and special around here and that the traffic is not a
real problem? What I prefer to do is try
to think of this place as it was 50 years ago when we had an old run down
mining town, endless meadows and hills and a blank canvas to draw on. Did we do the best we could? Did we give up.? Did we sell out?
