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The on-again, off-again tussle to build a movie studio at Park City's back door near Quinn's Junction may be back on.
And the proposal may now include a hotel and entertainment venue, according to Park City and Summit County officials, who have been in ongoing communication with land owner Greg Ericksen, a Davis County-based lawyer, and California-based Raleigh Studios.
Park City Mayor Dana Williams said Monday that in recent discussions with Summit County and Park City, Ericksen has said the plan envisions a hotel, restaurant and amusement venue to go with the studio near the intersection of State Route 248 and U.S. Highway 40.
"Raleigh has said a studio alone is not economically viable," Williams said. "We're not averse to the project. We just want it to go where there is proper zoning."
The Summit County Council is considering a zoning density increase on a 30-acre parcel owned by Ericksen. It would allow about 88,000 square feet of floor space. The up-zone, however, would not be nearly enough to satisfy his plan, which requires at least 320,000-square feet.
Ericksen could not be reached for comment Monday. A spokeswoman for Raleigh Studios said "no comment" when asked whether the organization would consider locating elsewhere in Summit County.
Ericksen's attempt earlier this year to go around Summit County by getting the Utah Legislature to pave the way for a large studio complex was not successful. Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, proposed legislation that would have created an "enterprise zone" through the Governor's Office of Economic Development, which would have been able to override local zoning for construction of the facility.
During legislative hearings on the matter, representatives of Utah's film community said a studio would be a big plus for the state.
Summit County and Park City officials say they would not be surprised if Ericksen's proposal for a large entertainment venue is again a subject of debate in the 2012 Legislature.
A lawsuit Ericksen filed against Summit County more than a decade ago, alleging unfair zoning over the same property, is pending in state court.
The Summit County Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday and could act on the zone change at that time, said Deputy County Attorney Dave Thomas.
If the council changes the zoning to allow for 88,000 square feet, it would do so without an application from Ericksen in order to bring zoning on lands abutting Park City into similar density regulations as those within city limits, Thomas said.
Summit County Manager Bob Jasper said the county welcomes a movie studio, but the hotel, restaurant and entertainment aspects of the plan make it difficult.
"If it was just about a film studio, we'd be done by now," he said.