After years of administrative squabbling, multiple lawsuits and repeated attempts at legislative intervention, Matthew Prince, Utah’s richest man, may be moving closer to building a massive mansion above Park City, thanks to language added to a housing bill in the final week of the Legislature’s recently completed session.
It didn’t come without drama, however, as Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, attempted to slip in language that would have exempted Prince’s planned home — and potentially others across the state — from local historic design standards, which have stalled Prince’s project.
Around dinnertime on the final night of the session Fillmore proposed adding language to HB37, an affordable housing bill. His addition would have barred cities from imposing any historic design standards on homes built after 1990 or in neighborhoods platted after that year.
Prince, founder of the cybersecurity firm Cloudflare, wants to build a sprawling mansion in a historic neighborhood above Park City’s Old Town. He was on track to begin construction until the city’s board of adjustment voted to halt the project over historic design issues related to floor-to-ceiling windows and the size of the roof.
When Fillmore’s language surfaced, Park City officials were concerned, and lobbyists for the city and Utah League of Cities and Towns scrambled to shut it down.
After frenzied negotiations, Fillmore relented and abandoned his proposal. When the bill — without Fillmore’s late amendment — came up for a vote, Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, asked matter-of-factly, “Does this deal with anything with any housing situation in Summit County?”
Fillmore said it did not.
Other legislation may propel the project
Another measure, however, could help Park City finally resolve the years-old dispute. SB262 included a provision that would let the City Council settle a lawsuit Prince filed without having to get the approval of the board of adjustment or the planning commission. State law currently would require the settlement to be approved by the commission if it does not comply with existing ordinances.
Eric Hermann, Prince’s neighbor who is suing to block construction of the home, said the adjustment board only wanted minor changes and feels like the city has been on Prince’s side in the dispute.
“If the city quits, we have to effectively be the standard-bearers for maintaining the integrity of Old Town, which, I have to say, is a very sad situation,” Hermann said. “The only request we’ve made is treat him like everyone else, but clearly the city is not eager to do that.”
City spokesperson Clayton Scrivner said Park City supports legislation that maintains local land use authority.
“Consent agreements are one mechanism for resolving land use disputes,” he said, “and SB262 appears to preserve local governments’ discretion in settling these matters at the local level.”
Hermann is also concerned that another last-minute bill, SB340, could give Prince an even wider exemption from the city’s building codes.
Sponsored by Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George, the measure, titled Protected Person Amendments, would let someone who is certified by the Utah commissioner of public safety as an “at-risk” individual put security improvements into a home without city approval. The nature of the improvements would be confidential.
Said Ipson: “It has to do with high net-worth people who may be accosted or threatened with kidnapping or threatened with violence to their body.”
‘On Putin’s list’
Prince has said in a public meeting that Russia has put a bounty on his head over his support for Ukraine.
“He will jump all over it, because he will argue — as he has in the past — that he’s on Putin’s list and this would enable him to build a giant bunker underground,” Hermann contends. “The fact that you can not only control it but you can’t even get information on it is crazy.”
That bill also passed on the final night, although it was amended to now require some consultation with local building officials.
Prince has been trying to build a home on the hillside of historic Main Street that city staff said would span 11,300 square feet. The city initially balked at the proposal and in the late stages of the 2023 legislative session, the cybersecurity magnate slipped language into a bill giving him permission to build.
After news reports on the maneuvering, the Legislature stripped out the provision and Prince went back to the city to try to come to an agreement.
The project had appeared to be on course and, in July, the city issued a permit to demolish the two homes that used to stand on the property. Prince’s team was preparing to begin construction when the adjustment board voted to stop it.
