ISLAND PARK – Island Park Hospitality hopes to build a 115-room Marriott SpringHill Suites Hotel at the current Mack’s Inn site. The company reported on its webpage the facility would open spring of 2019.
Island Park Hospitality official Kirk Barker says plans call to tear down various buildings and add commercial buildings and a boat house. A restaurant is also planned for the new hotel, he said.
While under the name Marriott, an independent owner would run the facility.
“We affiliate with premium brands and go into a premium location. We customize the building. It will not be a prototypical building, but one that fits into the scenic beauty that surrounds Island Park,” he said.
Before anything is built, 1.9 of the five acres the hospitality organization owns needs to be annexed into Island Park from neighboring Fremont County. The city council plans to consider doing so during its upcoming meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 22, at city hall located at 3753 Highway 20 and is adjacent to Pond’s Lodge.
During the meeting, the city council will also review the Planning and Zoning Board’s recommendation that the property in question remains commercially zoned — should it be annexed into Island Park.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Board met on Thursday where they agreed to suggest that the city council continue with the property’s current zoning designation.
Much of the property in and around Mack’s Inn is partially in the county, said Island Park’s Planning and Zoning official Jeff Patlovich.
“In order to proceed with any kind of development — whatever that may be – it’s got to be in one jurisdiction,” he said.
Patlovich also emphasized that the P&Z Board has nothing to do with the city’s possible annexation decision. The board only suggested what the property should be zoned as should the city opt to annex it.
“If it’s annexed, what should it be zoned?” he asked.
In the meantime, Patlovich has yet to receive any building permit requests from Island Park Hospitality.
“They have not applied for a permit. They have applied for an annexation,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to think there’s an application for a permit to be building anything.”
While Patlovich hasn’t received any building permit requests, he has been shown preliminary plans for the proposed SpringHill Suits Hotel.
“I’ve seen some really preliminary ones as far back as August of last year. They were sketches,” he said.
Island Park Hospitality is an entity of the Utah-based Ensign Hospitality organization. According to its webpage, the company currently owns hotels in Logan, Springdale and Salt Lake City, Utah.
For more information on the upcoming city council meeting, call city hall at 208-558-7687.
