The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah met in Regular Session on Tuesday, December 3, 1996, at 6:00 p.m. in Room 315, City County Building, 451 South State Street.
The following Council Members were present:
Joanne Milner Sam Souvall Deeda Seed
Tom Godfrey Bryce Jolley Keith Christensen
The following Councilmember was absent:
Stuart Reid
Mayor Deedee Corradini; Roger Cutler, City Attorney; Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; and Scott Crandall, Deputy Recorder were present.
Councilmember Christensen presided at and conducted the meeting.
#1. The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance.
#2. Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Jolley seconded to approve the minutes of the Salt Lake City Council meeting held November 19, 1996, which motion carried, all members present voted aye.
CITIZEN COMMENTS TO THE COUNCIL
The following people spoke in opposition of hiring independent counsel to investigate donations to the Mayor. Jim Dabakis, 1455 Tomahawk Drive. Doug Wortham, 157 East Coatville. Gil Iker, 498 North Hills Drive. Richard Velez, 56 East 800 South. Toni Marie Sutliff, 1631 South 800 East. Pat Gamble-Hovey, 69 South University Street. Ton Phan, 3086 South Lake Meadow Drive, West Valley City. Mark Schmitz, 538 Columbus Street. Lorille Miller, 548 North Columbus Street. Tiare Tupua, 156 Edith Avenue. Mele Fifita, 504 South Post Street. Melenaite Vi, 1575 North Fernleaf Street. Fred Fife, 842 West 900 South. Christy Martinez, 1619 South 1300 West. Luis Palomeque, 850 Sir Phillip Drive. Paul Valdez, 1619 South 1300 West. Ingrid Quiroz, P.O. Box 65661. Michael Morgan, 353 West 200 South #301. Juan Mejia, 241 North Vine #304. Gloria Albertini, 370 East 900 South. Marie Durazo, 1795 Aries Circle.
Stephen Pace, 181 "B" Street, spoke in favor of independent counsel. He said he was concerned about costs relating to the Mayor's defense.
The following people spoke concerning the homeless. Samanta Francis, 70 West Van Buren Avenue. Bob Fisher, 2172 Hannibal. Tara Sudweeks, 121 North "M" Street #2, submitted a petition. Judith Wolbach, 153 "C" Street.
The following people spoke concerning the moratorium relating to the Capitol Hill property. Bonnie Mangold, 326 Almond Street, said residents in the area wanted the Council to approve the moratorium. Robin McLall, 122 West 300 North, said proper zoning would solve many problems relating to the property.
Russ Watts, 5200 Highland Drive, said he purchased property on Almond Street in August of 1995. He said at that time the property was zoned RMF 45. He said over the past 15 months, many meetings were held involving the Planning Commission, Landmark's Commission, and neighborhood residents. He said they had met all City requirements involving the development and asked the Council to consider the fairness and equity of this process.
Bruce Baird, 201 South Main, Suite 900, said he was counsel for the Watts Corporation. He said he had sent the Council a letter dated November 21, 1996. He said the moratorium was inappropriate and ineffectual. He said the development was vested and was the type of development contemplated in the masterplan. He said this moratorium was essentially a one property moratorium.
Councilmember Seed asked what impact a zoning change would have on the value of the land. Mr. Baird said there would be a dramatic loss. He said the Council did not have the right to impose a wrongful moratorium and downzone this property.
Kevin Watts, 5200 Highland Drive, submitted a hearing card opposing the moratorium.
See files G 96-18, independent counsel; O 96-45, moratorium; H 96-16, homeless shelter, for hearing cards and written comments.
CONSENT AGENDA
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Seed seconded to approve the Consent Agenda, which motion carried, all members present voted aye.
#1. RE: Approving the appointment of Ron Coleman to the Citizens Compensation Advisory Committee for a term extending through August 31, 2000.
(I 96-22)
#2. RE: Approving the appointment of Kevin K. Mukai to the Community Development Advisory Committee for a term extending through July 1, 1998.
(I 96-13)
#3. RE: Approving the reappointment of Connie Romboy to the Housing Advisory and Appeals Board for a term extending through October 14, 1999.
(I 96-1)
Approving the reappointment of Boyd Tangren to the Housing Advisory and Appeals Board for a term extending through October 14, 1999.
(I 96-1)
#4. RE: Adopting Resolution 74 of 1996 authorizing the approval of an interlocal cooperation agreement between Salt Lake City Corporation and State of Utah, Department of Transportation regarding Beck Street bicycle route project.
(C 96-742)
#5. RE: Adopting Resolution 75 of 1996 authorizing the approval of an interlocal cooperation agreement between Salt Lake City Corporation and Salt Lake County for the exchange of water between Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, and authorizing the City to withdraw water from a County well in the vicinity of Siesta Drive and 1725 East in Salt Lake County.
(C 96-743)
NEW BUSINESS
#1. RE: Adopting a motion to hire independent counsel/consultant for the purposes of: 1) reviewing the legality of donations made to the Mayor and investigating the impact of the donations, if any, on City business; 2) reviewing the City's ordinances relating to gifts to City officials and official's financial disclosure requirements and making recommendations to the City Council regarding changes to bring the City's ordinances in line with best practices.
ACTION: Councilmember Seed moved and Councilmember Milner seconded to adopt a motion to hire independent counsel, which motion carried, all members present voted aye, except Councilmember Godfrey, who voted nay.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Jolley asked if the motion was for independent legal counsel or consultant. Councilmember Seed said legal counsel.
Council Members Seed, Milner, Souvall, Jolley, and Christensen spoke in favor of the motion. They said they received numerous calls from constituents who were concerned about gifts solicited and received by the Mayor.
They said the Council had the right, responsibility, and obligation to insure there was a fair, thorough, and dignified investigation of this matter. They said they supported the District Attorney's investigation and did not want to duplicate his work.
They said the issue was not whether the Mayor was doing a good job or to show disrespect, but to insure there were no infractions, illegalities, or violations of the ethical code of conduct required of a public official. They said in hiring independent counsel, the scope of services could be defined and costs could be kept within reason.
All Council Members agreed City ordinances and State statues needed to be analyzed and rewritten to insure this situation did not occur in the future.
Councilmember Godfrey spoke against the motion. He said he supported the District Attorney investigation but did not want the Council to spend public funds on its own investigation. He said Council had an obligation for oversight if the District Attorney did not take the case. He said the cost of hiring an attorney would be substantial and was also concerned about spending time to determine the scope of work. He said the Council did not need independent counsel to review ordinances. He said a consultant could be considered but Council staff auditors could gather information and assist with best practices.
(G 96-18)
#2. RE: Adopting an ordinance establishing a moratorium on all development relating to the Capitol Hill vacant property south of 300 North between Almond Street and West Temple for six months or until the Council formally considers rezoning the parcel, from Residential Multi-family 45 "RMF-45" to Special Residential "SR-1".
ACTION: Councilmember Souvall moved and Councilmember Milner seconded to adopt an ordinance establishing a moratorium on all development relating to the Capitol Hill vacant property south of 300 North between Almond Street and West Temple for six months or until the Council formally considers rezoning the parcel, from Residential Multi-family 45 "RMF-45" to Special Residential "SR-1", which motion failed, Council Members Milner, Souvall, and Jolley voted aye, Council Members Seed, Godfrey, and Christensen voted nay.
Councilmember Jolley moved and Councilmember Seed seconded to adopt the moratorium with a three month timeframe instead of six months, which motion failed, Council Members Seed and Jolley voted aye, Council Members Milner, Souvall, Godfrey and Christensen voted nay.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Souvall said he did not advance this moratorium because of the developer. He said the developer had gone through all the steps required by the City. He said the reason for the moratorium was because the property was not consistent with the Capitol Hill masterplan. He said the streets and infrastructure could not handle the impact from this development.
Councilmember Godfrey said clarification was needed because he understood the current zoning conformed to the masterplan.
Janice Jardine, Planning and Policy Analyst, said with the adoption of the zoning rewrite, the masterplan had been amended. She said the Planning staff felt since the property had a history of higher density zoning, it met the masterplan. She said there were statements in the existing Capitol Hill masterplan which talked about development being consistent with the surrounding area and maintaining historic preservation. She said she felt there were conflicting statements in the masterplan. She said the Council was given a packet containing masterplan statements.
Councilmember Godfrey said an amendment was needed to change the masterplan and that was never discussed. He said they had discussed lowering the zoning. He asked if lowering the zoning required opening the masterplan. Ms. Jardine said the legislative action stated masterplan amendment and rezoning. She said she was not sure of the moratorium language.
Councilmember Souvall said to be more specific, the property did not conform to the intent of the Capitol Hill masterplan. He said the intent was to retain a relatively low density in the area. Councilmember Godfrey said the zoning history had always been high density, both before and after the zoning rewrite. Councilmember Souvall said it had not been "RMF-45".
Councilmember Godfrey said it was unfair to change the rules halfway through the process and the Council was only compounding the issue by imposing a moratorium.
Councilmember Christensen said he agreed with Councilmember Godfrey. He said he was also concerned about vesting rights and being arbitrary and capricious. He said the developer had followed City requirements over the past 18 months and imposing this moratorium was not an appropriate use of the Council's authority.
Councilmember Jolley said the intent of the masterplan was unclear and needed to be looked at.
(O 96-45)
#3. RE: Adopting a resolution declaring the intention of the City Council of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, State of Utah, to create Salt Lake City, Utah Lighting District No. 3; to operate, maintain, patrol and power lighting improvements; to create and fund an extraordinary maintenance account; to pay the operation and maintenance expenses and all other costs of said improvement district by special annual assessments to be levied against the properties benefited by such lighting and improvements; to establish a formula for the calculations of annual assessments; to provide Notice of Intention to authorize such actions and to fix a time and place for protests against such lighting, improvements, the assessments for the costs thereof or the creation of said district, and related matters.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Seed seconded to suspend the rules and adopt Resolution 76 of 1996, which motion carried, all members present voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Souvall wanted the record to show participants in the Special Improvement District needed to receive adequate and timely notice.
(Q 96-7)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
#1. RE: Adopting an ordinance establishing the 1997 budget for the Salt Lake Solid Waste Management Facility.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Seed seconded to adopt Ordinance 91 of 1996, approving the 1997 Landfill budget as proposed to include payroll adjustments for standard cost of living and merit increases as negotiated and approved by the Salt Lake County Commission, which motion carried, all members present voted aye.
(B 96-4)
#2. RE: Adopting a motion ruling on an appeal (by John and Samantha Francis) of the Planning Commission decision for conditional use Petition No. 410-96-238 submitted by Traveler's Aid Society for an overflow homeless shelter to be located at 399 Andrew Avenue in a commercial "CG" zone.
ACTION: Councilmember Christensen said this matter was resolved prior to the meeting and would be stricken from the agenda.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Jolley wanted the record to show the Council did everything possible to provide adequate shelter for the homeless. He said the City Council's offer was turned down by Traveler's Aid, prior to negotiations.
(H 96-16)
The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
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