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Park City • Summit County government officials have given tenants two weeks to vacate a building that housed nearly 60 seasonal workers, apparently against local zoning rules.
The building, a former bed and breakfast and school off Highway 224 outside Park City limits, was home this winter to dozens of people, many of them foreign workers in low-paying seasonal jobs in the resort town.
When a resident complained last week about the living situation at the building, fire officials visited the property and found minor issues that led them to issue a notice that everyone must leave.
"We did tell them they had to vacate the premises by April 2," Park City Fire Marshal Scott Adams said Thursday, saying the sprinkler system needed maintenance.
County officials say the issue highlights a shortage of workforce housing in Park City, as workers in low-paying jobs struggle to pay high rents in a limited number of rentals.
"Something like this helps spotlight the community need for employee housing," said Patrick Putt, Summit County community development director.
In the 1980s, the property was a bed and breakfast called the Snowed Inn that was a popular spot for honeymooners and others visiting the small resort town. It was later converted to a school called the Colby School.
The owner of the property is listed as Hoffvest, LLC, which bought the property in January 2015. A person affiliated with that company, Emma Worsley, did not respond to a request for comment.
The new owners began working with the county to get approval to convert the school to a hotel with 15 rooms, along with cabins, a bar, yoga studio, cafe, reception center and bath house on the adjacent property. Meeting minutes from a Snyderville Basin Planning Commission meeting show those plans were still in the works in May 2016.
"The vision for our business and the Colby property's existing rights fit beautifully together," the property's owners said in a statement to the Park Record in December 2015. "We look forward to advancing our vision on our property and welcoming the community with open arms."
The area is zoned rural residential, with surrounding homes sitting on several-acre parcels of land.
There is already a yoga studio offering private and semi-private classes in a small building adjacent to the main one.
Tenants on the property, who declined to be named, said many of the 56 residents this year were here from all over the world through a non-immigrant visa program.
They said the property was a rare affordable gem in the resort town that allowed them to live, work and play in Utah this winter. One tenant said she planned to stay in the building long-term, but noted it was the end of the ski season and the others were already moving out.
Patty Horie, a Park City real estate agent whose company listed the property for sale in 2010, described the property as well-kept, with about a dozen rooms total on the second story, main floor and basement.
Horie, too, noted the lack of housing in the area.
"Park City has a shortage of affordable housing for its seasonal workers, that's not a big [secret]," she said. "You can't find a single family home there for under $700,000."
It appears the owners won't face repercussions for housing the workers, despite not having the permission to host dozens of tenants, Putt said.
"If they all leave and go away, what we're left with is a small hotel slash school that's working its way through the process," he said.
Twitter: @TaylorWAnderson