Prince’s Treasure Hill home receives historic district approval

A rendering of the 10,000 square-foot home Park City approved to be built on Treasure Hill. The property's owner is Matthew Prince, owner of the Park Record. Photo: Park City Municipal

The final approval needed to break ground is a building permit. The Park City planning department has approved its phase of formal review.

PARK CITY, Utah – Park City’s Planning department has granted Matthew Prince all the approvals needed to move the highly-contested project through to the final step of getting a building permit. The proposed home, which exceeds 10,000 square feet will sit high on Treasure Hill in Old Town Park City.

Municipal staff recommended the Historic District Design Review (HDDR) for the project at 220 King Road be approved with a long list of 23 conditions. The public hearing took place Thursday, August 15 at 12 p.m. at City Hall.

Park City Planning Director Rebecca Ward, lead the HDDR review and determined that the north end of the roof line should be trimmed by 13 feet. Among the other conditions HDDR required is that remaining floor-to-ceiling windows along the eastern façade of the structure will need to be replaced by ones that more closely resemble industrial mining patterns. Prince has said that the design for his home was inspired by the Silver King Mine buildings.

During the public hearing Thursday, Park City area resident Nic Norsk spoke about whether or not approval of the home’s design would set a dangerous precedent for future development.

“All of us suffer, greatly or not greatly, depending on those precedents that you set in Park City,” Norsk said.

Prince’s neighbor and strong opponent of Prince’s home, Eric Hermann, had submitted a letter to the city in advance of Thursday’s meeting, which outlined the ways in which the home does comply with Park City’s HR-1 code. In the letter Hermann cited the only technical analysis of the proposed construction by qualified architectural historians based on the Old Town codes. The analysis was written by SWCA Environmental Architectural consultants.

“The proposed residential building at 220 King road will span multiple lots, and while its size is compatible with the size of the lot, its building bulk and mass are not compatible with historic sites just down slope in the HR-1 zone. Because the guidelines are so clear on this point, a variance from the board of adjustment would be required to permit the design as proposed,” the analysis concluded.

Ward addressed the concern of the decision setting precedent for future development stating that the Historic District Design Review is limited to the Treasure Hill Subdivision Single-Family Dwellings in the Sweeney MPD and “shall not create precedent nor interpretation of general applicability in the HR-1 Zoning District or LMC regulations.”

According to Park City records, the only remaining developable lot in the Treasure Hill Subdivision is at 200 King Rd.

The possibility that the HDDR decision and review can be appealed exists. Eric and Susan Hermann, appealed the Planning Commission’s approval of the plans in February. Another appeal would go to the Park City Board of Adjustment.

Lawyer for Matthew Prince, Bruce Baird says they plan to break ground on the home next year, aiming to finish by the end of 2026.