Park City Mountain lift approvals appealed; resort says process was ‘rigorous and transparent’ (original) (raw)

The Silverlode Express lift, shown in a previous ski season, is one of the lifts Park City Mountain wants to upgrade. A municipal approval has been appealed.Credit: Photo courtesy of Vail Resorts

The Park City municipal government on Monday afternoon received an appeal of the recent approval of lift improvements at Park City Mountain.

It will be put before a land use hearing officer, who decides whether to grant or deny the appeal. A date had not been set by midday Tuesday. The city has 45 days to hear an appeal.

Six individuals — Frode Jensen, Catherine Jensen, Alan Theis, Marvin Kabatznick, Andrea Griffis, and Allan Inglis — filed the appeal.

They want the hearing officer to reverse the approvals and send the issue back to the Planning Commission with instructions to “consider and mitigate all reasonably anticipated detrimental effects and to consider all mandatory requirements.” The appeal wants the Planning Commission to address the Park City Mountain comfortable carrying capacity, an industry metric measuring the size of crowds that a resort can accommodate. It also wants the Planning Commission to address the “consideration of safety, downhill capacity, and other detrimental effects.”

The appeal centers on a Park City Planning Commission decision in late May in favor of the improvements. Park City Mountain wants to replace the existing Eagle and Eaglet lifts with a six-passenger lift and install an eight-passenger lift to replace the current six-passenger Silverlode Express lift.

The Park City Planning Commission cast a unanimous vote on May 27 and heard broad public support before the decision.

Deirdra Walsh, the vice president and chief operating officer of Park City Mountain, expressed confidence in a prepared statement in response to the filing.

“The Park City Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of the Eagle and Silverlode lift upgrades followed a rigorous and transparent public process that clearly demonstrated that these projects comply with all permit requirements. More than 80 community members — including Olympic athletes and industry leaders — spoke or submitted comments in support, underscoring the broad recognition that these projects will meaningfully improve the experience for skiers and riders, residents and guests,” the statement said. “We believe that the city’s process for land use appeals will confirm that the Planning Commission reached the correct decision. We remain committed to the Park City community and to continuing to invest in improving the experience for all Park City Mountain guests.”

The appeal will be another step in a long-running debate about the lift improvements that has illustrated a divide between those supporting the upgrades and the critics. The supporters argue the upgrades would benefit skiers and snowboarders by better managing the crowds. Critics worry about potential impacts of additional traffic, parking issues and larger crowds.

The discussions became entangled in procedural matters, and the issue was eventually brought to state court. A three-judge Utah Court of Appeals panel in 2025 supported an earlier district court ruling in favor of the Park City government and three citizens concerned about the potential community impacts if the improvements were allowed. That ruling led to the Planning Commission process that resulted in the recent approval and subsequent appeal.