Mayor calls for togetherness in 2023 State of Park City address

Mayor Nann Worel speaks at the annual State of Park City address on March 6, 2023. Photo: Park City Municipal

PARK CITY, Utah — Mayor Nann Worel urged Parkites toward “togetherness” during her first State of Park City address, given on Monday, March 6, at the Jim Santy Auditorium.

“Nationally, there are so many loud voices, so many new challenges and elements seem to yank and pull us apart, or pull us down,” Worel said. “They aim to create division, pit individuals and entities against each other without facts or information. This seems to be amplified by our country’s over-reliance on technology, loss of traditions, conventions, and simple respect for those that might not agree with us. We are fortunate in our community because I believe the vast majority of us believe we are stronger together.”

Worel was sworn in as Park City’s first female mayor in January 2022. As she reflected on her first year in office, Worel stated that she believes it is the connection between Park City’s residents that has sustained the city through previous challenges.

“Our past is defined by connection and togetherness, and we’ve been through this before,” she said. “We have faced our fair share of challenges. Fortune, economic collapse, fires, and building the interest of big business with our sense of pride and our local community. And we have not only survived, we have thrived.”

In March 2022, Worel implemented Meet up with the Mayor, a monthly program where residents and business owners can meet up with her for a one-on-one conversation.

“What I’ve been so impressed with is that people come in with bullet point notes because they know they’ve got twenty or thirty minutes,” Worel said. “They have great questions. Most importantly, they have solutions, they have suggestions, and some of those have actually been implemented.”

Worrel noted the Studio Crossing and Homestake developments as successful steps toward Park City’s affordable housing goals. If Studio Crossing is approved by the Park City Council it will bring 185 affordable units to the community, and the Homestake project would provide an additional 99 affordable de-restricted units.

“This [Homestake] is the first time the city has entered into a public-private partnership in housing, and so we’re excited about that,” she said. “Fingers crossed that we can have a groundbreaking, if all approvals go through, in 2023.”

Worel discussed several wins and losses for the Park City and Summit County communities during the 2023 legislative session, including the passage of S.B. 84, which allows Dakota Pacific Real Estate to move forward with its Park City Tech Center project without Summit County approval. The project will add approximately 700 housing units to the Kimball Junction area.

“Dakota Pacific, as we all know, was a loss in Summit County… and is another prime example of legislative overreach during this session,” Worel said. “Threats to land use authority from the state legislature are real, and something that we will continue to fight hard.”