Third District Court Judge Ryan Harris has decided to wait a week before making a decision on how much it will cost Park City Mountain Resort to continue to operate on land the business no longer leases.
Earlier this year Judge Harris ruled in favor of TaliskerLand Holdings in a dispute over whether or not Park City Mountain Resort renewed their lease of the disputed land on time. That ruling set the stage for Talisker to evict PCMR. Wednesday’s hearing was about how much it would cost PCMR to continue to operate on the land until the two parties could reach a new agreement, or until the Utah Supreme Court rules on any appeal.
Attorneys for Talisker say their evaluation of the land puts the fair market value of rent at more than $14 million dollars a year. They say they reached that number based on how much Vail Resorts paid them to lease Canyons and how much profit PCMR stands to gain by continuing to operate on the land. But attorneys for PCMR argued the land should be valued as if it would be used for more generic purposes and not viewed as what it’s worth to PCMR. They think the rent set by the bond should be set closer to $1.8 million a year.
Whatever the judge eventually sets the bond at, PCMR Attorney Alan Sullivan says it shouldn’t effect this year’s ski season.
“We are very hopeful that the ski season will go forward, the 2014-2015 season," he says. "We think it’s in everybody’s interests for the season to be saved and we intend to do everything we can to make sure that happens.”
The amount set for this bond will only cover the time period between June of this year and April 30, 2015. This is not a settlement for how much money Talisker thinks PCMR owes it for damages and for operating on their property after the lease expired in 2011. Judge Harris will announce his ruling at a hearing on Wednesday September 3rd.
