PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
REGULAR/BRIEFING SESSION
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1988
The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, met as the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, March 9, 1988, at 5:00 p.m. in Suite 300, City Hall, 324 South State.
The following Council Members were present: Florence Bittner Thomas Godfrey Wayne Horrocks Roselyn Kirk Sydney Fonnesbeck Willie Stoler Alan Hardman.
Council Chairperson Godfrey presided at the meeting.
BRIEFING SESSION
The Council interviewed Philip Bamberger prior to his appointment to the Utah Air Travel Commission. Mr. Bamberger told the Council he was a commercial real estate agent and had a vested interest in the community as he had lived in Salt Lake City all his life. Councilmember Kirk asked Mr. Bamberger if he was aware of the time commitment involved in serving on the Utah Air Travel Commission, and Mr. Bamberger said was not a problem for him.
Linda Hamilton, Executive Director, briefed the Council on the evening’s agenda. She told the Council that they would consider a Legislative Action submitted by Council Members Kirk and Godfrey. Councilmember Kirk said the Legislative Action would create an ordinance empowering the Board of Adjustment to legalize sate garage, carport, and patio structures under certain conditions.
Councilmember Godfrey said that the Action legalized structures if the current bane curer did rot create the illegal structure and if the structure had been in place for more than 15 years. He said that people bought homes assuming that carports, garages, and patios were legally constructed, and that a home buyer should not be responsible for building violations made by a previous owner. Councilmember Fonnesbeck said the Action should require consent from adjacent property owners. Councilmember Godfrey said that if adjacent property owners did rot protest an illegal structure for 15 years, there should be no reason for than to begin protesting.
Councilmember Horrocks said he liked the Legislative Action, however, he felt that it did not solve all of the problems with building violations. He pointed out that the Action did rot legalize structures if the current property owner built the structure. He said that in District 2, many illegal structures had been in place for several years and property owners were now being forced to demolish them. Councilmember Godfrey said that the Action was aimed at protecting individuals who purchased homes in good faith then learned that the home had illegal structures. He said if a home owner built an illegal structure, the owner should be held responsible for the building violation. Ms. Hamilton told the Council they should consider vacating an alley between 1500 West and Catherine Street. Councilmember Bittner told the Council that she had met with neighborhood representatives and representatives of the affected school, and added that the two groups had reached an agreement to close the alley to pedestrian traffic.
The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, met in regular session on Tuesday, March 8, 1988, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 324 South State Street.
The following Council Members were present: Florence Bittner Thomas Godfrey Wayne Horrocks Roselyn Kirk Sydney Fonnesbeck Willie Stoler Alan Hardman.
Mayor Palmer DePaulis, Roger Cutler, city attorney, Kathryn Marshall, city recorder, and LaNita Brown, deputy city recorder, were present.
Council Chairperson Godfrey presided at and Council Vice-Chairperson Kirk conducted the meeting.
The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Hardman seconded to approve the minutes of the Salt Lake City Council for the regular meeting held Tuesday, March 1, 1988, which motion carried, all members present voted aye.
(M 88-1)
Special Recognition
The City Council and Mayor considered adopting a resolution declaring the week of March 14 through March 18, 1988 as ‘EMPLOY THE OLDER WORKER’ week. Councilmember Godfrey read the resolution which stated that inasmuch as more than 101,000 Salt Lake City residents were age 55 or older and many were seeking employment, employers were urged to hire the highly qualified, experienced older workers, to help alleviate their personal and financial hardships that often required public fund expenditures for public assistance, unemployment insurance and job training.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to adopt Resolution 24 of 1988, declaring the week of March 14 through March 18, 1988 as ‘EMPLOY THE OLDER WORKER’ week, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(R 88-1)
PETITIONS
Petition 400-557 Calvin Burningham.
RE: Consider adopting an ordinance to vacate a 6 foot alley located between 1500 West and Catherine Street.
ACTION: Councilmember Bittner moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to adopt Ordinance 20 of 1988, vacating the alley, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(P 88-7)
Petition 400-433 Ivory and Company.
RE: Consider adopting an ordinance extending the effective date of Bill No. 16 of 1987 providing for the rezoning of certain property at approximately 817 North Redwood Road from Residential “R-2A” to Business “B-3” zoning classification.
ACTION: Councilmember Bittner moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to adopt Ordinance 19 of 1988, extending the effective date of Bill 16 of 1987, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(P 87-14)
Petition/Legislative Action/Councilmember Kirk/Councilmember Godfrey.
RE: Consider adopting an ordinance empowering the Board of Adjustment to legalize non-conformingly located garage, carport, and patio structures under certain conditions.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to refer this to the City Attorney for preparation of the ordinance and to the Planning Commission for a recommendation, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(P 88-29)
DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
#1. RE: Consider setting dates for public hearings to be held Tuesday, April 19, 1988, and Tuesday, May 3, 1988, to obtain public comment and facilitate citizen participation regarding the Block 52 UDAG application.
ACTION: The Council pulled this from the agenda.
(T 88-3)
MAYOR’S OFFICE
#1. RE: Consider approving the reappointment of Tom Welch to the Airport Authority Board.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to approve the reappointment, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(I 88-8)
#2. RE: Consider approving the reappointment of Byron Haslam to the Mosquito Abatement Board.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to approve the reappointment, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(I 88-12)
#3. RE: Consider approving the reappointment of Randall Dixon to the Historical Landmarks Committee.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to approve the reappointment, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(I 88-11)
#4. RE: Consider approving the reappointment of Conrad Harrison to the Tracy Aviary Board.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to approve the reappointment, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(I 88-4)
#5. RE: Consider approving the appointment of Grant Burgidge to the Public Utilities Advisory Committee.
ACTION: Council referred this to the Committee of the Whole.
(I 88-6)
PUBLIC UTILITIES
#1. RE: Consider adopting a resolution authorizing the execution of an interlocal agreement between Salt Lake City Corporation and the Utah State University Lab to perform certain sludge, soil, and plant tissue tests and analyses at the Hinckley Farm.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to adopt Resolution 23 of 1988, authorizing the execution of an interlocal agreement with the Utah State University Lab to perform sludge, soil, and plant tissue tests and analyses at the Hinckley Farm, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(C 88-78)
PUBLIC WORKS
#1. RE: Consider adopting a resolution authorizing the execution of an interlocal cooperation agreement between Salt Lake City Corporation and the Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources and Salt Lake County to amend the June, 1981 agreement to allow additional land of said division to be used by the City and County for additional landfill.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Horrocks seconded to adopt Resolution 22 of 1988, authorizing the execution of an interlocal cooperation agreement with the Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources and Salt Lake County to amend the June, 1981 agreement to allow additional land of said division to be used by the City and County for additional landfill, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(C 88-79)
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Budget Amendment No. 2.
#1. RE: Obtain public comment concerning a proposed resolution amending budgets of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1987 and ending June 30, 1988.
ACTION: Councilmember Stoler moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to close the public hearing, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Fonnesbeck seconded to adopt Resolution 25 of 1988, amending budgets of Salt Lake City, Utah for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1987 and ending June 30, 1988, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Lance Bateman, Director of Finance, addressed the Council and said that he was prepared to answer any questions from the Council or the audience and that Louis Miller, Airport Director and Jim Lewis, Chief Financial Officer, Public Utilities, were also ready to answer any questions. No one from the Council or audience addressed this issue.
(B 87-5)
COMMENTS
Bernice Cook addressed the Council as a concerned citizen. She said she had been invited to attend a meeting that had been called and conducted by the Citizen’s Congress concerning the old Lincoln School property. She said it had been held in a home in the South Central Community Council District and the developers, a small group of neighbors, and also people from other areas of the city had been invited. She asked what authority these people had, to come into other council districts and have meetings to form councils when the councils were already formed. She said it was as though others were trying to divide and destroy the already established councils. She said the problem was over boundaries that had been established in 1974 and adhered to since then. She felt that the problem should be settled once and for all. She said a man from the Citizen’s Congress mentioned at the meeting that they were working on a Master Plan for Central City. She questioned this. She said she felt that the established councils should be dealing with the developers.
She said it was time for clarification of the community council boundaries and the relationship of City Council representation, in order to deal with developers and other problems in their area. Stephanie Peterson, Director of Community Affairs said her staff had been involved in holding neighborhood meetings to discuss the Lincoln School issue, the boundary issue, and Central City Master Plan. She said there had been some duplication of meetings by other groups and there was some confusion on the part of residents.
She said they were having mild success in working together and negotiating things that would delineate some boundaries of Central City. She said the problem with Citizen’s Congress was not really a boundary issue but a turf issue. She said the Citizen’s Congress wasn’t real open to working through the Community Council because they were a separate organization.
Councilmember Hardman said there were really two separate issues, the boundary dispute between Central City and South Central. That’s something that may or may not be resolved. He said he’d like to see it resolved. Councilmember Hardman said there was not only the issue of the boundaries between Central City and South Central, but the fact that the Neighborhood Councils thru SLACC had been requesting for years to be recognized by ordinance as the official neighborhood council system in the city.
He said he felt that until that was resolved they were going to have other rival neighborhood groups such as Citizen’s Congress organizing all over the city and he didn’t see that anyone could tell them not too. He said it presented a problem when developers came to Planning and Zoning and were told to go to the neighborhood council groups. He said there was a lot of blurring of personalities and positions and organizations which he didn’t think was for the good of the city.
Ms. Cook said these other groups had the funds to do just about anything they wanted to do, but her group being volunteers and getting older couldn’t do all the work they had done in the past. Councilmember Bittner said she didn’t think the issue was going to go away and eventually they would have to come to grips with the need to recognize a neighborhood organization. She said they would always have those turf battles until they took steps to recognize that organization. Betty Berquist, 240 Edith Avenue, addressed the Council saying she had been at the meeting and at one point they had said that they had the power to hold up the zoning indefinitely, because the builder/developer said his interest on his $1,000,000 was about $495 a day. She questioned whose responsibility it was to hold money, and where it eventually went if neighborhoods were given money by a developer, and whether it was just given or asked for. Councilmember Godfrey said in the case of Smith’s Food King the neighborhood had not broached the subject, but Smith’s offered to give $25,000 to be used in the neighborhood to deal with the impact of the expansion of their parking lot.
Councilmember Hardman said although he was not at the meeting he understood the suggestion regarding the money. He said he felt the city had a certain amount of responsibility when sending developers through the normal legitimate neighborhood process, to assure them that they were going to receive fair treatment. Mayor DePaulis said he didn’t think the city should be taking the responsibility for defining how a developer works with a neighborhood. He said the city should only offer suggestions on contacting the citizens as a courtesy.
Councilmember Hardman said he felt the city was already involved through the Community Affairs Department and the Neighborhood Council System. He said that Planning and Zoning also listened to what the neighborhoods said. Councilmember Horrocks said he had had a similar experience when Bonneville International had been interested in the Lincoln School property. He said Planning and Zoning had suggested they talk with the South Central Neighborhood Council. He said a meeting was held and the neighborhood people were very much impressed with the project and were urging them to go ahead with it.
He said he really sympathized with what Councilmember Hardman was saying because if you got so many splinter groups that you had to please them all it became rather onerous. He said he had been involved in the neighborhoods for a long time and felt that the strength was focused on the neighborhood council and not on a bunch of splinter groups. Councilmember Bittner said there was a lot of precedent in other cities for having some kind of recognized neighborhood structure, as Salt Lake County and Provo had done this, and many other cities across the nation. She said it did not mean that the city assumed responsibility for any recommendations or anything coming out of the neighborhood, but it would eliminate the border warfare and could provide a recognized structure.
She said she felt they had begged the issue of whether they should recognize the Salt Lake Association of Community Councils as a recognized neighborhood group, and she felt that in all fairness to the people involved, it was time that they addressed the issue and did something about it. Mayor DePaulis said he didn’t disagree, except he had met with SLACC on several occasions and he felt they wanted more power than he thought the Council realized. He said they wanted to share the Council’s power. He said what he had seen in draft ordinances was a lot more expansive than what sheer recognition would be. Councilmember Stoler said he felt the Council had been inconsistent in their suggestions to developers. Councilmember Bittner suggested that the Council request the Mayor’s staff to investigate and pursue the recognition, by ordinance, of the Neighborhood Council structure. Mayor DePaulis said he would direct his staff to compile what they had at this point then the Council could scrutinize it and get back to him with some suggestions.
The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.