Establishing a regional housing authority part of Park City Chamber’s sustainable tourism goals

Park City Chamber President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff. Photo: Rayne Moynahan

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City Chamber of Commerce recently unveiled a sustainable tourism situation assessment, which was created with the Coraggio Group’s survey of the community, in addition to focus groups and individual interviews with local leaders about tourism.

Some of the main themes gathered from feedback were stark, and likely don’t come as a surprise:

• Degradation of Summit County’s key natural assets is a real and looming threat.
• Park City’s residents are approaching a breaking point from overtourism.
• The community of Park City is about to lose itself to the destination of Park City.
• The destination needs more stewardship, not more promotion.
• Current and future tourism levels, on top of community population growth, are testing the capacity of Park City’s infrastructure.

The survey that collected over 2,600 responses asked: What are three words you would use to best describe Park City/Summit County? The top three answers were Crowded, Beautiful, and Growing. 61% of the survey’s respondents don’t reside in the county.

The Chamber organized a Stewardship Council, made up of elected officials, business leaders, key nonprofit representatives, and others.

Together the group established a 2032 Sustainable Tourism Vision for Park City and Summit County.

“In 2032, we foresee a future where authenticity reigns—where we celebrate the perspectives of Indigenous peoples, our mining and railroad history, pioneer heritage, and our long winter sports tradition,” the vision statement says.

“Our vision embraces the health of our environment as the beating heart of the Park City experience—central to why we and our visitors love the Wasatch Back.

“We see a future in which locals, governments, business groups, non-profits and land managers share a mission to integrate tourism with stewardship and preservation, engaging visitors as partners who care about—and for—our community.

“Our community systems will adapt, becoming one of the most sustainable ski destinations in the world.”

Several objectives have been established, which include the implementation of sustainable policies, balancing tourism and growth with community needs, and tackling big issues like affordable housing.

As a result, the Chamber has said it would like to see a regional housing authority established with the goal of creating multifamily units.

When asked by a resident on Wednesday night at a presentation at the Santy Auditorium about the need for such a housing authority, Park City Chamber President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff said: “I think that the council felt like we needed to have an entity that that was their sole priority — working regionally, both the city and the county and Wasatch as well.”