Little Cottonwood Canyon could get a new micro hotel and a rebuilt restaurant, according to a new proposal being pitched to the small town of Alta.
Members of the Alta Town Council are considering a proposal that would make text amendments to its Base Facilities Zone C (BFZ-C),which if approved could pave the way for the redevelopment of the old Shallow Shaft Restaurant, located at 10199 E. Highway 210. The restaurant closed during the Coronavirus pandemic and did not reopen.
The new proposal, which the Alta Town Council discussed during a meeting last week, calls for creating a year-round, small scale hotel that would have a small restaurant space. The council did not vote on the proposal during last week’s meeting.
Beyond the hotel and restaurant, the proposal also calls for covered parking and sustainable building elements, including energy efficient insulation and solar panels. The proposal would also include affordable employee housing, though the council materials didn’t say how many housing units would be included.
According to a presentation in council materials, the current site is made up of .21 acres, and the current building was finished in 1956 prior to the town’s current zoning code. The existing building would need to be torn down and rebuilt up to current code.
Because the lot is less than one developable acre, current zoning code allows for tearing down and rebuilding the structure in the same footprint plus a 250 square foot increase, which is a 6% increase in lot coverage. The BFZ-C zone has very limited use in Alta, as the town’s zoning map shows just a handful of buildings in the town carry this zone. Other, larger facilities, like the Alta Lodge just south of the site, carry the Zone A or B zone.
The proposal itself calls for a handful of changes, including modifications to the lot area, lot width and slope requirements, which would allow for the building to be repositioned on the lot with an expanded footprint. The town code would also be modified to allow a new use in the Base Facilities Zone for a hotel with cooking facilities.
Jay Springer, an attorney for the property owners, Walter Krebsbach and Andrina Hougham, said during the town council meeting that he and the owners have been intentional in drafting the proposal. Mainly, Springer said the owners did not want to set a political or policy precedent that would allow larger hotels to be built in the town.
The proposal would add a “compact hotel facility” into town code in the BFZ-C zone that would cap the number of guest rooms to no more than eight rooms, which would include any on-site worker housing units.
“Capping a Compact Hotel Facility at 8 guestrooms reinforces the intent and message that these are small and separate from the existing larger hotels,” read one slide presented to the town council.
If approved and built, the proposed compact hotel would add new units to the ever-bustling area of Little Cottonwood Canyon. While Snowbird is known for having larger, more high-end lodging, the proposed hotel would be more in line with the smaller, more intimate lodging options at the Alta Ski Area. The proposed restaurant, which the slide presentations say would serve pizza, would not only support the skiers and hikers around Alta, but also serve the town’s full time residents.
Alta Mayor Roger Bourke told Building Salt Lake on Friday the proposal essentially comes down to one aspect, as he said, “From my standpoint, it’s not about approving the building or the use, it’s just more about the lot coverage.”
Bourke said he expects the council to vote on the proposal during its next meeting on October 14, though he added he couldn’t forecast which way the vote could go.
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