Three Park City councilmembers publicly staked out positions on the contested 5-acre Bonanza Park development in interviews published Tuesday, Aug. 18, with one declaring full support, another deferring to the Planning Commission and a third declining to discuss details.

Councilor Molly Miller told the Park Record she "wholeheartedly" supports the mixed-use concept as designed. She said tourism tax revenues, not property taxes, would finance the city's share of the project, pushing back on what she called misinformation circulating in the community.

Councilor Ed Parigian said he supports the project continuing through the Planning Commission review, saying the panel can offer "valuable feedback that will make this a more acceptable project for the locals."

Councilor Bill Ciraco declined to comment on specifics. He acknowledged the concept is "challenging" from a planning perspective and cited a good-faith clause in the city's agreement with Brinshore as his reason for staying quiet.

Councilors Diego Zegarra and Tana Toly did not respond to the Park Record by its print deadline.

What's proposed

The city-owned site sits at the southwest corner of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive. The seven-building proposal includes 88 income-restricted rental units, 18 market-rate rentals, more than 30,000 square feet of commercial space, a childcare facility and 2 acres of open space. An underground garage would hold 280 parking stalls, above the code minimum of 208.

Six of the seven buildings seek heights above the 35-foot zoning maximum and the 40-foot gabled-roof exception, with updated plans showing rooflines between 46.5 and 55 feet. Traffic studies project more than 1,200 weekday vehicle trips.

Opposition and history

Park City acquired the land in 2017 for $19.5 million, originally envisioning an arts and culture district anchored by the Kimball Art Center and the Sundance Institute's Utah offices. That vision collapsed after Kimball opted for a Kimball Junction location and Sundance moved its film festival out of Utah.

Opposition group PLACE PC has gathered roughly 2,000 petition signatures asking the council to scrap the development and create a park instead. At the Aug. 12 Planning Commission hearing, more than 20 people testified, most of them critics.

Former Mayor Jack Thomas, who helped broker the original land purchase, testified against the plan at the commission's Aug. 14 hearing. "What we see, from a perspective, is walls of buildings on Bonanza and Kearns," Thomas told the Park Record. "And I think it's an overwhelming scale and has none of the character, none of the amenities, none of the purpose that I think we started with."

What's next

The Planning Commission holds authority to approve or reject the application. The council helped guide the concept to the application stage because municipal land is involved, but a vote on the project could come at the commission's Wednesday, Aug. 26 meeting. The commission is not bound by that timeline and could continue the matter to Sept. 9.

The council voted in March 2026 to move forward with Brinshore's plans. It would be up to the council to reverse that decision.