The Hidden Valley Ski Area in Wildwood could close after the upcoming ski season amid a dispute over a planned zip line attraction on the property.
Hidden Valley, which is owned by Wildwood-based Peak Resorts, unveiled plans this year to add four zip lines on its 250-acre property to operate on days when it’s too warm to ski or snowboard. At a cost of $2.5 million, Peak Resorts estimated the zip line attraction would bring in $1 million in revenue annually.
But the proposal hit a roadblock Monday night at the Wildwood Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
The city’s planning department had recommended several changes to Hidden Valley’s plan, including shortening one of the zip lines near the Radcliffe Place subdivision by several hundred feet and restricting the zip lines’ hours of operation.
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Commissioners voted 5-4 to amend the planning department’s recommendation, approving the company’s proposed location of the zip lines. But the commission left the restriction on hours of operation in place — a decision that angered a top company official.
Tim Boyd, Peak Resorts’ chairman, president and CEO, said he told commissioners that any changes and restrictions to when the zip lines can operate would make the plan unfeasible.
Without the ability to operate zip lines to boost revenue, Hidden Valley will close its ski operations after the upcoming winter season, which begins in mid-December, Boyd told the Post-Dispatch.
“Hidden Valley needs year-round revenue, and it’s just not sustainable in this climate,” Boyd said. “We’ll sell it to a developer. The ground is valuable. We’ll continue to operate until we sell the ground.”
Hidden Valley, which opened in the early 1980s, has 300 employees. Its parent company, Peak Resorts, owns more than a dozen ski resorts nationwide.
“I think it’ll be a major loss for the area because it’s an asset,” Boyd said of Hidden Valley.
Wildwood Mayor Jim Bowlin, a member of the planning and zoning commission, voted against the zip line project without additional restrictions on distance from homeowners.
“It’s a balance of interests,” Bowlin told the Post-Dispatch. “We have to balance (Hidden Valley’s) interests and the interests of homeowners nearby who have quite a few concerns.”
Bowlin said he wants to restrict the zip lines’ hours to the last session ending by 6:30 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m.
“I don’t think the viability of a business plan will sink or swim on one hour, and this process requires compromise,” Bowlin said, adding he’s hopeful Hidden Valley does not close after the winter.
“I hope that doesn’t happen,” Bowlin said. “If it does, that’s a decision we don’t have any control over.”
Peak Resorts and nearby homeowners still have time to make their case to the city.
A final vote of the plan by the planning and zoning commission, which requires six affirmative votes for approval, is scheduled for its next meeting, on Nov. 20.
The original proposed layout of zip lines at Hidden Valley. One of the lines has been moved farther from nearby homes to help address concerns from neighbors.
