Sweeneys soften stand against Treasure Hill buyout

The Sweeney family is open to negotiations with City Hall that could preserve Old Town hillside
by Jay Hamburger OF THE RECORD STAFF
Posted: 04/02/2010 04:31:52 PM MDT

Mike Sweeney, one of the three Sweeney brothers leading the family's efforts to build Treasure, told Mayor Dana Williams and the Park City Council Thursday night the Sweeneys are willing to enter into negotiations with City Hall that could result in a conservation deal for the Treasure land.

He briefly addressed the elected officials and did not provide details about the prospects of negotiations. Sweeney, though, said the family is open to talks about City Hall buying the Treasure land outright or paying the family in exchange for the Sweeneys reducing the size of the development.

The elected officials did not respond to the comments. Sweeney's statements were the second time in recent weeks a member of the family held open the possibility of some sort of negotiations about a conservation deal between their side and City Hall. Pat Sweeney, the most visible of the three brothers during the long-running Treasure discussions, said in a March interview the family could entertain discussions with Park City officials.

Doing so would shake up the talks about Treasure, which have stretched since the middle of the last decade. Throughout the talks, the Sweeneys have indicated that they were not interested in negotiating a conservation deal, saying that most of the Treasure land would remain undeveloped anyway and the project would boost business on Main Street if it is built.

The negotiations for a conservation deal between City Hall and the Sweeneys would be conducted in closed-door sessions, and it is unclear whether there had been overtures from either side leading up to the Thursday meeting.
If City Hall were to attempt to purchase the land outright, it would likely be the most expensive land deal officials have ever negotiated. The acreage occupies a prized hillside on the slopes of Park City Mountain Resort overlooking Old Town. The Sweeneys hold longstanding development rights, making the land more valuable than if there were no rights already associated with the parcel.

During the City Hall elections last fall, Mike Sweeney told a crowd during a candidate forum the land could be bought for conservation purposes for $100 million. He quickly backed away from the figure, though, saying it was a tongue-in-cheek comment.

Many would see a conservation deal for the Treasure land as the most significant of its kind since City Hall purchased the McPolin Farm along the S.R. 224 entryway in 1990.

Whatever the price tag, City Hall would need to raise millions of dollars before a deal could be finalized. There is no money left from three voter-approved conservation bonds, which have largely funded open space purchases for more than a decade.

It seems likely Williams and the City Council would need to put another bond to voters to raise the money required for a deal with the Sweeneys. Voters overwhelmingly passed the three bonds, totaling $40 million, but each of them was approved during better economic times.

Sweeney's comments on Thursday were unexpected and came as the City Council was considering whether to make a procedural change to the way some development matters are handled. City Hall staffers want the change approved in an effort to make a breakthrough in the Treasure discussions. Should the change be adopted, the City Council would have the power to appoint a hearing officer to consider appeals of some Planning Commission decisions.

Under the current setup, the appeals are put before the mayor and City Council. Because the elected officials have the duty to hear appeals, City Hall attorneys caution them not to discuss applications under consideration by the Planning Commission in an effort to retain their neutrality should an appeal be filed.

If the appeals process was changed to shift the duties away from the elected officials, they would be able to engage a developer like the Sweeneys in wide-ranging discussions, including the possibility of a conservation deal.

The Planning Commission earlier made a favorable recommendation for the change, which would be made to City Hall's Land Management Code. The City Council on Thursday delayed a vote on the change until at least April 15. The lower panel has the authority to approve or reject Treasure, but it has long been expected that the Planning Commission's decision would be put before the City Council, either through an appeal or by the elected officials exercising their authority to reconsider a decision made by the Planning Commission.

Six people spoke during a hearing about the change, with the testimony indicating there are concerns about the City Council delegating its role in appeals to a hearing officer who is not held accountable to voters like the elected officials are.

A Treasure critic, Bob Garda, suggested replacing the hearing officer clause with one calling for a three-person panel to consider the appeals.

Brian Van Hecke, a leader in the Treasure opposition, said he would like officials to entertain talks with the Sweeneys, but he was hesitant to support a setup that removes the City Council from its usual role in hearing appeals. He said the talks about the procedural change were hurried.

"It seems like we're rolling the dice a little bit," Van Hecke said.

The Sweeneys are seeking a Planning Commission approval for approximately 1 million square feet of development, with the proposal including a hotel, condominiums and commercial and meeting space. Treasure opponents claim the project would draw too much traffic, the buildings would loom over Old Town and the neighborhood has changed dramatically since the original approvals in the 1980s.