The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, met in Regular Session on Tuesday, February 6, 1996, at 6:00 p.m. in Room 315, City Council Office, City County Building, 451 South State.
The following Council Members were present:
Stuart Reid Joanne Milner Sam Souvall
Deeda Seed Tom Godfrey Bryce Jolley
Keith Christensen
Roger Cutler, City Attorney; Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; and Bonnie Ferrin, Deputy City Recorder, were present.
Councilmember Christensen presided at and Councilmember Reid 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 January 16, 1996, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(M 95-1)
#3. International Institute of Municipal Clerks will recognize Chris Meeker, Chief Deputy City Recorder, with a plaque.
Marilyn Holje, City Recorder for Centerville City and Second Vice President of the Utah Municipal Clerks Association, presented Christine Meeker, Chief Deputy City Recorder, with a plaque and pin honoring her for earning her Certified Municipal Clerks award.
She said the Institute of International Municipal Clerks (IIMC) was an association of nearly 10,000 municipal clerks, administrators, and attorneys. She said the institute offered support, training and education to Municipal Clerks and Administrators world-wide. She said Ms. Meeker attended her first Utah Municipal Clerks conference in March of 1991. She said Ms. Meeker had completed more than 100 hours of training and had achieved other education requirements to earn her Certified Municipal Clerks award. She said this conferred the title of Certified Municipal Clerk and could now use the designation of "CMC" along with her title. She congratulated Ms. Meeker and commended the governing body of Salt Lake City for the support they had given Ms. Meeker in achieving this educational award.
Councilmember Reid congratulated Ms. Meeker for her hard work and great representation as a City employee, and more specifically as a City clerk. He said the Council depended on her good work often and referred back to her notes regularly.
CITIZEN COMMENTS
Gwen Richardson-Purvis, 581 East Sider Drive, North Salt Lake City, Utah, said she was the wife of a Salt Lake City Police Officer. She said her husband's hiring group would be the first to be affected by the residency ordinance. She said they started looking for a home in Salt Lake before the issue passed and they still had not found a home. She said they lived 2 miles north of City limits, which only took 10 minutes to get to the police station. She said this search had been a nightmare for them. She said they had the advantage of being a little older than most of the new hires, having her second income, and having some equity in their present home.
She said she had done some research on the schools within City limits. She said she had an 86 year old mother who lived within walking distance of their current home and which they helped care for. She said her mother relied on her husband to help with tasks which she was not able to do on her own. She said they had an established day-care provider, schools, dance classes, drama clubs, friends, softball teams and a pre-school which provided stability and a safe environment for their children. She said arrangements like this were not easy to make. She said their family now had roots and they were stable. She said these were the things which made a successful police officer.
She said she felt certain Councilmember Godfrey had been misquoted by the Salt Lake Tribune when it said that this ordinance would not up-root families. She said the City had hired her husband, not his wife and children. She said taxpayers were more interested in the stability of their police force than where they chose to reside or park their cars.
Officer David Greer, Police Association President, 315 East 200 South, said the ultimate goal of many seeking a career in law enforcement in the State of Utah was to join the Salt Lake City Police Department. He said 80% of those officers would spend the next 20 to 30 years standing in harms way, and serving the community, regardless of where they chose to live. He said new officers were stuck with a limited, expensive and restrictive housing market and a requirement which forced them to lose their job if they moved out of the City.
He said the department now faced the prospect of losing several officers recently hired when the August decision date approached. He said disruption to the department caused by the difficulty in recruiting and retaining quality officers was not good for the department or the citizens of Salt Lake City. He said he wanted to urge support to rescind the residency ordinance. He said the Police Association was committed to working directly with the Council to establish incentive programs and anything else they could do to encourage officers to choose to live in the City. He said no one should be told where they had to live in order to have a job. He said it was where their hearts and heads were at, not where they laid down at night.
Officer Michael Johnson, 342 East Pioneer Avenue, Sandy, Utah, said the residency ordinance not only affected the officers, but their families as well. He said out of the 32 new hires affected by this ordinance, there were 24 spouses and 36 children. He said if this ordinance was not repealed, it would cause undue personal, physical, and emotional stress to his family. He said he had a 2-1/2 year old son who had muscular dystrophy and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He said the house he currently lived in had been set up with renovations to allow his son as much freedom as his disorder would allow him. He said he had tried to buy within the City, but with the problems of renovations, it had made it impossible for him to qualify for a loan. He asked what would happen if a family out-grew their home within the City, and moved to a larger home. He said only two-thirds of the housing in Salt Lake were 2-bedrooms or smaller, so it was a difficult situation.
Orb Northgren, 93 South Kays Drive, Davis County, said if it had not been for the residency ordinance he would have been a new City employee. He said he had been a police officer for fifteen years. He said he had been a Sergeant for twelve years. He said he graduated from Weber State University with a degree in criminal justice and one in history, with a minor in sociology. He said he had excellent training throughout his career. He said his present assignment was with the Salt Lake area gang project. He said he decided two years ago that he wanted to work for Salt Lake City. He said he passed all the tests and requirements and received a packet in the mail with a form stating he had to live in the City. He said 12 years ago he and his wife built their dream home. He said in order to work for Salt Lake he would have to give up 15 years of seniority, his Sergeant stripes, and a big cut in pay. He said he was willing to do that, but the housing rule put his hopes out of reach.
Christine Wihongi, 605 South Senate Circle, said her family moved to the City last October and the neighborhood they had moved to was not safe. She said the family had already had to change their phone number because they received calls in the middle of the night. She said there was a juvenile which called and sang a cop killing rap. She said this scared her. She said although she was aware that visibility of the police cars was important, neighbors on both sides of her had attempted robberies in their homes. She said the visibility of a car did not deter crime in her neighborhood. She said she and a son had gone to pick up her other children from Franklin Elementary on 400 South, when a man stopped in front of them and screamed obscenities at her husband while her children were getting into the car. She said her husband had arrested a man that she sees periodically in a local grocery store. She said as soon as the family was financially able, they would be moving out of the area.
Officer Ron Bruno said he was one of the officers affected by the residency ordinance. He said he and his wife were born and grew up in Salt Lake City and he loved the City. He said they found a home four blocks from the City boundaries. He said when he did a search through the multiple listing service he could only come up with 12 homes which were under $200,000 that had at least what his current house offered. He said of those 12 homes, there were only three which he could purchase without extending his debt ratio beyond what he could afford. He said when he went to look at the homes, he realized that even though he could purchase the home, he could not afford to pay for the repairs which would be needed.
He said he had every intention of moving into the City, but after a stressful year of disappointing searches, he realized that he was not able to find a home within Salt Lake City that he could afford. He said applicants had dropped by almost 25% since the residency requirement took effect, which meant the City had 25% fewer candidates to choose from.
He said Salt Lake City was one of the few departments which still paid to put their recruits through Police Officers Standards and Training (POST). He said officers would use Salt Lake City as a stepping stone to other agencies.
Abegail Larsen, 20 West Lester, Murray, Utah, said her major concern was for herself and her children's safety. She said she was not prepared emotionally, physically, or mentally to live in a place where she felt there was a continual threat of danger. She said being a police officer was a stressful job and it was nice for the officer to come home at night and leave the job at work. She said she thought by forcing families to live in the City required additional stress 24 hours a day.
Helen Cox, 3048 South 2850 East, and Clinton Mott, 2617 Barbie Street, addressed the Council. Ms. Cox said they were there to represent "Citizens to Preserve Tanner Park For Children". She said they wanted to thank the Council for their careful consideration of an important issue. She thanked Councilmember Christensen for his lead in taking another look at the issue and considering alternatives which she and others had proposed for ways to allow the Jewish Community Center to expand and yet remain within the City. She said there were alternatives which could reach and serve both the interest of the Jewish Community Center and expansion and provide open space which was needed.
Officer Shawn Wihongi, 605 South Senate Circle, said it was a pleasure to be an officer and serve the citizens of Salt Lake City. He said he could not do this without the support of his wife and 4 young sons. He said he took his sons to a local grocery store and ran into a person that he had recently arrested. He said his concern was not for himself, but for his sons seeing a possible verbal or physical altercation.
CONSENT AGENDA
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Christensen seconded to approve the Consent Agenda, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
#1. RE: Approving the appointment of Alberta Archuleta to the Housing Advisory and Appeals Board for a term extending through October 14, 1996.
(I 96-1)
#2. RE: Setting the date of February 20, 1996 at 6:00 p.m. to accept public comment and consider adopting an ordinance amending Fiscal Year 1995-96 Budget.
(B 95-1)
#3. RE: Adopting Resolution 2 of 1996, authorizing the approval of an interlocal cooperation agreement between Salt Lake City Corporation and Salt Lake County for a street widening project on 900 East between Van Winkle Expressway and 4500 South.
(C 96-47)
#4. RE: Adopting Resolution 3 of 1996, authorizing the approval of an interlocal cooperation agreement between Salt Lake City Corporation and the Utah Division of Water Resources for state cost sharing for cloud seeding operations in City Creek and Parley's Canyons.
(C 96-48)
#5. RE: Adopting Ordinance 3 of 1996, enacting new Sections 3.24.220 of the Salt Lake City Code, and amending Sections 3.24.050 and 3.24.100, relating to small purchases of supplies.
(O 96-3)
NEW BUSINESS
#1. RE: Adopting a legislative action item asking Administration to draft policies relating to power transmission lines in Salt Lake City.
ACTION: Councilmember Christensen moved and Councilmember Souvall seconded to ask the Administration to consider presenting to the Council, on or before December 31, 1996, a policy representing Salt Lake City with respect to dealing with all utilities, not just underground power transmission lines, but sub-stations as well, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(G 96-7)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
#1. RE: Consider options regarding Ordinance 113 of 1994, which requires that Police Officers hired after December 15, 1994 be residents of the City within 18 months after they are hired.
ACTION: Councilmember Milner moved and Councilmember Jolley seconded to adopt Ordinance 6 of 1996 repealing Ordinance 113 of 1994.
Councilmember Christensen moved and Councilmember Jolley seconded to repeal and as a Legislative intent, have the Administration come back to the Council with incentive assistance program ideas, which motion carried, all members voted aye, except for Councilmember Godfrey, who voted nay.
Councilmember Christensen moved and Councilmember Souvall seconded to amend the motion to repeal the ordinance and have the Administration come back to the Council by June 1, 1996, with incentive ideas, which motion carried, all members voted aye except Councilmember Milner, who voted nay.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Jolley said he applauded the efforts of those trying to increase the presence of the police force in the City neighborhoods. He said he saw the benefit of it, but did not see the benefits outweighing the negative aspects which had come from the ordinance. He said he wanted the Administration to return to the Council within the next four months, by April 30, 1996, with program and incentive ideas to encourage officers to live within the City.
Councilmember Christensen said it was in the City's best interest to attract the finest officers possible. He said this was a Council policy and he had learned a lot since having voted in favor of the action a year and a half ago. He said there was a fairness issue. He said it was apparent the City could not recruit the best of those available without asking them to sacrifice beyond that which was fair. He said he wanted to encourage the Administration, to work closely with the Council to create an incentive assistance program. He said he believed it was in the best interest of the City to have the residency ordinance, but it was not fair to require City residency. He said the Council should repeal the ordinance, but encourage the Administration to look at incentive programs.
Councilmember Seed said she was in favor of repealing the residency requirement for many of the reasons already stated. She said the City was in the middle of a housing crisis and it was burdensome to ask new officers to find housing within Salt Lake City. She said she was interested in working on an incentive program, because it was a good idea to have officers living in the City.
Councilmember Souvall said it was not a difficult process to create incentives. He said some of the ideas proposed were a second mortgage from a fund, which did not have to be City funds, and could be offered to an officer who chose to purchase a home in the City. He said the second mortgage could be reduced proportionate to the years of service. He said the benefit would be that officers would receive home equity.
Councilmember Milner said the item presented before the Council was the concern that the present ordinance was not feasible and had not been carried through. She said many other departments and divisions within the City did not have the same requirements and should be encouraged to move to the City if it was feasible for them to do so. She said the ordinance needed to be repealed and the Council should look separately at the issue of incentives for not only law enforcement, but for all City employees.
Councilmember Milner asked if the Legislative Intent would specifically be addressed to law enforcement or to all City employees. Councilmember Christensen said it would be addressed to law enforcement.
(O 94-30)
#2. RE: Consider an appeal by W. Meeks Wirthlin of a Historic Landmark Decision.
ACTION: Councilmember Christensen moved and Councilmember Seed seconded to refer to Landmark for rehearing; encourage expedited review and set appeal review date of March 7, 1996, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(H 96-2)
PUBLIC HEARINGS
#1. RE: Accept public comment and consider adopting an ordinance closing a portion of 200 West south of 1400 South, pursuant to Petition No. 400-95-77.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Christensen seconded to close the public hearing, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Jolley seconded to adopt Ordinance 4 of 1996, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(P 96-1)
#2. RE: Accept public comment and consider adopting an ordinance for Section 21A-20-8.5, regulating low power radio service antennas for cellular communication.
ACTION: Councilmember Christensen moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to close the public hearing, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Christensen seconded to adopt Ordinance 5 of 1996, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Ray McCandless, Environmental Planner, said when the new zoning ordinance was adopted last April, staff was aware of the cellular tower issue and the need to address it. He said they did not fully understand the technical aspects of the industry at that time. He said the new ordinance allowed cellular towers in non-residential districts as a permitted use if the tower was within the height limit of the zone and a conditional use if the tower exceeded the height limit. He said after processing a few applications they realized that it did not satisfy the geographic needs of the industry and raised a few issues of Planning Commission concerns in the downtown area where there were some fairly permissive heights. He said they created a Planning Commission sub-committee to consider the issue. He said after several working sessions an ordinance was drafted and adopted by the Planning Commission.
He said Sprint expressed concerns about the southeast quadrant of the City and the difficulty of providing service in that area. He said in any residential zone a wall-mounted antenna would be allowed on any non-residential building. He said the only exception to those zones were the Foothill Zones. He said other than the Foothills, any non-residential building in a residential district, would accommodate a non-conforming business, church building or school building. He said the neighborhood commercial districts ("CN" and "CB" districts) were an area of contention. He said in the "CN" district, wall mounts were allowed as a conditional use and in the "CB" district as a permitted use and roof mounts as a conditional use. He said they had not in any residential zone or any of the "CN" or "CB" districts permitted the monopoles. He said given the geography of the neighborhood commercial districts, monopoles raised a lot of concerns. He said they had attempted to accommodate the industry with wall and roof mounts in the more restrictive zones until the industry could make it work with an acknowledgment that as the technology was refined, they could come in with smaller antennas.
Kim Gerrick, AT&T Wireless Services, said he represented all of the members of the industry which had participated in the task force to modify the ordinance.
Mr. Gerrick showed a slide presentation with examples of wireless, cellular communication sites throughout the area. He said they were in support of the modifications to the ordinance proposed.
Jerry Bergosh, Community Member on the Subcommittee, said the subcommittee was in favor of the ordinance. He said he spoke with Brent Wilde, Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning, and was told there would be a conditional use appeal which would come before the Council.
He said there were a few community concerns which the Council should be aware of. He said some monopoles turned into poles which eventually had appendages (microwave dishes, etc.) on them. He said visual problems were a priority and particularly a lattice tower. He said this was not appropriate in a residential area.
(P 96-3)
The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
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