TLDR:

• The Park City Planning Commission is a citizen board that helps guide the town's growth by reviewing Land Use applications.
• A Land Use application determines if and what you can build on a parcel, in accordance with zoning rules for the property.
• Planning applications in the past few years have been concentrated in parts of town such as Old Town, Bonanza Park, Snow Park & Upper Deer Valley.

Ever read the Townlift & Park Record and wonder what the headlines about the Park City Planning Commission are all about?

In Utah, planning commissions are local citizen boards that review proposals on land use, zoning, subdivisions & development and make recommendations to City Councils.

The Park City Planning Commission meets twice a month to review Land Use applications & ensure that they comply with the city's Land Management Code and General Plan. The commission, working together with the Planning department, reviews & makes final decisions on many land use applications such as Subdivisions, Master Planned Developments (MPDs), Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) and appeals from staff decisions, in accordance with the Land Management Code. For broader items such as long-term plans, amendments to the Land Management Code and annexation petitions, the commission evaluates & submits recommendations to the City Council.

What's a Land Use application, you ask?

Well, a Land Use application determines if and what you can build (e.g. criteria like lot size, building height, setbacks, landscaping, parking) based on zoning rules for the property. A Building application is all about regulating how you build it (things like structural safety, code compliance for materials & systems). You'll need Land Use approval before obtaining a Building permit. The former is issued by the Planning department, while the latter is issued by the Building department.

Ready for some historical data trends?

We dug into the archives of the last 3 years of Planning Commission agendas, did some text analytics on the 411 agenda items that appeared from 2023 to 2025, and observed the following:

1. The top 5 most common application types are Plat Amendments, Conditional Use Permits (CUPs), Land Management Code Amendments (includes zone changes / rezoning), Condo Plat & Plat Amendments, and Master Planned Developments (MPDs). Here's a short overview of what these application types are:
   
   • Plat Amendment: Changes the official plat (parcel boundaries) of a property in a recorded subdivision map, requiring review from the Planning Commission to ensure compliance with the Land Management Code for lot adjustments, open space or boundary clarifications. It can be used to combine lots into one, to recombine parcels or establish easements.
   • CUP: Allows specific uses that are not automatically permitted by zoning and requires approval from the Planning Commission to ensure compatibility with the neighborhood, protect public welfare and meet city standards by mitigating potential negative impacts like traffic, noise or parking.
   • Land Management Code Amendment: A formal change to the city's ordinances governing development, zoning and land use to address housing, transportation, environmental goals & other community needs. Review by the Planning Commission & Planning Department (with public hearings) is required before approval by City Council. Includes rezoning / zone changes & introduction of new zoning districts.
   • Condo Plat & Plat Amendment: A Condo Plat defines ownership boundaries for multi-unit properties, showing individual units, common areas, easements, legal descriptions and development rights under Utah’s Condominium Ownership act. A Condo Plat Amendment changes property lines of condominiums or unit descriptions, e.g., combining units and must align with Park City’s Land Management Code and Utah Condominium Act.
   • MPD: Specifies use, density, height, parking, design & site planning criteria for larger and more complex projects, e.g. residential projects with 10 or more lots or any commercial, retail, mixed-use or industry project with 10,000+ sqft of gross floor area.
   
   This makes sense since Park City has experienced a surge of new condo units, homes & townhomes. Some of these have required creation of new subdivisions & subsequent MPDs. There've also been changes to the Land Management Code that reflect Park City's growing needs (with respect to affordable housing units, introduction of new mixed-use zoning). More on this topic coming in a future post!
2. There's more planning activity in the following parts of town: Old Town, Bonanza Park, Snow Park / Lower Deer Valley, and Silver Lake / Upper Deer Valley, as the heatmap below shows.
   
   
   
   These correspond to parts of Park City with higher density of housing units - or - areas that are undergoing active discussion for rezoning & future development. The open spaces of PC that don't have any activity have typically Recreation & Open Space (ROS) zoning that limits development & focuses on nature / habitat preservation, parks and trails.
   
   Zoning districts (see Park City's zoning map) each have rules about things like lot size, building envelopes, max building height, setbacks & allowed uses. These are defined in the Land Management Code, which is part of Park City's Municipal Code.

Key Takeaways

The Park City Planning Commission is an local citizen board that helps guide the town's growth by reviewing Land Use applications. This has implications on the city's traffic, economic health, environmental stewardship and quality of life.

Planning applications in the past few years have been concentrated in certain parts of town such as Old Town, Bonanza Park, Snow Park & Upper Deer Valley. Recent Land Management Code amendments, which include rezoning / zone changes, have reflected Park City's growth. We'll deep dive more into these code amendments & zone changes in our next post.