In 2022, Park City was amid a debate about a development proposal in the area of Quinn’s Junction known as Studio Crossing. The project, when it was under review at the Marsac Building and later approved, had a large number of housing units set aside for the workforce. It was a proposal that w as seen as advancing Park City leaders’ efforts to create housing options for rank-and-file workers who would otherwise be priced out of the community’s resort-driven real estate and rental markets. Jennifer Wesselhoff, the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, was one of the figures who provided input to the Park City Planning Commission during the Studio Crossing discussions. Her written input was broad in nature and not exclusively centered on Studio Crossing, but it was nonetheless an impassioned argument in favor of workforce housing. “The high price of Park City housing is woven into every aspect of our lives to harmful effect, pricing out service workers and up-and-coming Parkites, and our seniors, whose options have been drastically reduced,” Wesselhoff said in the submittal, written on Chamber/Bureau letterhead. She added: “Businesses’ ability to hire and retain employees is increasingly negatively impacted by the lack of affordable housing,” and workers in Park City “often have no choice but to commute long distances to find housing.” Four years later, the Chamber/Bureau recently provided another round of input about a different development proposal, this one involving the Park City municipal government as part of a partnership with a Chicago-area firm. The project is proposed on municipal acreage stretching inward from the southwest corner of the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard. It is designed with 88 units of income-restricted rentals as well as rentals without income restrictions and other elements. Wesselhoff signed the correspondence endorsing the proposal on behalf of the Chamber/Bureau board of directors amid the ongoing Planning Commission review. “Without workforce housing, Park City will become less authentic, potentially losing our community character, losing the grit and tenacity that enabled us to evolve from a mining town to the vibrant recreational community we are now,” it said. The Chamber/Bureau is a highly influential institution in the tourism industry, marketing Park City nationally and internationally as a year-round destination. It works to attract an array of visitors — skiers, conventioneers, arts enthusiasts, athletes and others. The organization, though, has sometimes been seen as narrowly focused on tourism generation at the expense of issues commonplace to the workforce in that sector. Boosting visitation has long been the overarching role of the Chamber/Bureau, but Wesselhoff has in some ways seemed to advocate for the workforce that is critical to the functioning of many aspects of the tourism industry. “The Chamber exists to advocate for a healthy local economy and a thriving community, and you can’t have either without a workforce that can afford to live here. When we advocate, we’re representing the businesses that are struggling to hire and retain employees — the restaurants, the hotels, the shops, the ski instructors, the healthcare workers. Their voices don’t always make it into the public comment record, because they’re working. So part of our role is to make sure decision-makers hear from the business community,” Wesselhoff said in a prepared response to a Park Record inquiry about the Chamber/Bureau input regarding housing. Wesselhoff said the Chamber/Bureau sometimes acts on topics aligning with the organization’s legislative policy agenda. “In other cases, we take specific issues to the Board and get their direct feedback, and (ultimately) they can decide to take a position. For Bonanza Park, the item was discussed at a board meeting and it was voted to take a position,” Wesselhoff said. “The Board looked at the location — near transit, schools, grocery stores, a central intersection. They considered the open space commitment, which is nearly 70% of the site and considered the history of this parcel specifically: it was purchased with transient room tax dollars, with a commitment to create something that benefits both visitors and the community. So, our statement reflects all of that.” Wesselhoff, meanwhile, addressed what she sees as the success of the Chamber/Bureau efforts in support of housing. “I think we’ve been effective at making the case clearly, and I’m proud of that. What’s harder — and this is true for everyone in this conversation, not just the Chamber — is shifting the broader community dynamic around housing,” she said. “Park City has seen project after project face intense neighborhood opposition. I think there’s genuine community support for affordable housing in the abstract. The challenge is translating that support into specific projects at specific locations. That’s a longer conversation, and we’re committed to being part of it.” The post Park City Chamber/Bureau, typically a tourism advocate, delves into workforce housing issues appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less