Complaints About Hyatt on 224 Are Growing

Over the past month we have been hearing more complaints about the new Hyatt on 224. Those complaints seem to be mostly about light pollution but also a little about noise.

I remember the Summit County Council meeting where this hotel was first proposed. The land was zoned for office space and a restaurant. The developer was told that they needed to make sure its what the public wanted and that it made economic sense for the county.

From reports at the time, representatives of those wanting to build the hotel held a meeting with Sunpeak residents. Out of that meeting at least some Sunpeak residents were then in favor of the proposal, which let the developer state that Sunpeak residents were in favor of it (when they hadn’t been before).

Yet, that whole discussion is somewhat moot. That hotel isn’t going to be unbuilt. Also, unfortunately, there is not a dark sky ordinance in the Snyderville Basin. This was brought up during the latest discussions surrounding the General Plan. A dark sky ordinance was met with a somewhat lukewarm response. It just wasn’t a big enough issue for anyone attending meetings or providing feedback.

While I’d guess it’s not impossible to find a way to get a dark sky ordinance in the Basin, it would likely take a person or group who wants to take that on as their mission. Even then, it probably wouldn’t impact the Hyatt, because they have invested money in their current infrastructure based on current rules during development. I could be wrong on that but I wouldn’t guess the County Council would require every business in the Basin to change their lighting.

So, that leaves the people that live around the Hyatt with a whole lot of light and not a whole lot of answers. I wish I had a better answer.

Going forward, I will say that Roger Armstrong was the only County Council member to vote against allowing the land to become a hotel. His seat is up for re-election this year and it is assumed he will run again. So, while it may be a small consolation, you could throw your support behind the only person on the council who shared your view.