Ordinance 7 of 2016

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SALT LAKE CITY ORDINANCE

                               No. 7 of 2016

(An Ordinance enacting temporary land use regulations concerning maximum parking allowances in the D-1 zoning district)

      An ordinance enacting temporary land use regulations for maximum parking allowances for certain office uses in Downtown zoning districts adjacent to state court facilities.

      WHEREAS, Section 10-9a-504 of the Utah Code allows cities, without a public hearing, to enact ordinances establishing temporary land use regulations for any part or all of a municipality if the municipality’s legislative body makes a finding of compelling, countervailing public interest; and

      WHEREAS, on December 8, 2015, the Salt Lake City Council adopted Ordinance 71 of 2015, which ordinance modified off street parking regulations in Salt Lake City; and

      WHEREAS, Ordinance 71 of 2015 modified the formula for calculating the maximum number of parking stalls allowed in nonresidential zoning districts; and

      WHEREAS, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has spent several years and significant resources planning the relocation of its offices in downtown Salt Lake City to a building located adjacent to the Matheson Courthouse, and wishes to begin construction of the building in April 2016 as envisioned when building planning was undertaken; and

      WHEREAS, the District Attorney’s Office building project proposes a significant number of parking stalls in secure areas to protect the safety of prosecuting attorneys, and a significant number of parking stalls for police officers and witnesses who will testify in criminal cases; and

      WHEREAS, the maximum parking restrictions established in Ordinance 71 of 2015 would render the proposed government project unworkable and would cost taxpayers significant sums to relocate, reprogram or abandon the project; and

      WHEREAS, the District Attorney’s Office has budgeted this project along with current rents being paid to follow a specific timeline, which budgets will be significantly impacted if that office is unable to begin construction in the coming weeks; and

      WHEREAS, consideration was not given to the specialized nature of the proposed District Attorney’s Office building when the city adopted Ordinance 71 of 2015; and

      WHEREAS, the City finds that, although the parking regulations recently adopted are important to the general welfare of Salt Lake City’s residents, visitors and business community, allowing Salt Lake County to avoid placing additional significant burdens on taxpayers and to avoid impeding the administration of justice and governmental operations are compelling, countervailing public interests that justify a temporary land use regulation to modify the maximum parking allowances recently adopted into Section 21A.44.030.H of the Salt Lake City Code for a brief period; and

      WHEREAS, this temporary land use regulation only applies to government buildings on parcels located within five-hundred feet (500’) of a state courthouse.

      NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained by the City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah:

      SECTION 1.  Finding of compelling, counterveiling public interest.  Pursuant to Section 10-9a-504 of the Utah Code, the Salt Lake City Council finds that the likely significant financial burdens on the taxpayers in Salt Lake County and the risk of impeding the administration of justice and governmental operations in the District Attorney’s Office are compelling, countervailing public interests that are sufficient to justify these temporary land use regulations to increase maximum parking allowances for a specific use.  

      SECTION 2.  Balancing of Public vs. Private Interests.  The city council further finds that any harm to private interests is de minimus and is outweighed by the city’s interest in protecting significant public fiscal resources and accommodating government uses involving the administration of justice and other legal services provided by the District Attorney’s Office intended to best serve the public’s interests.

      SECTION 3.  Temporary zoning regulations.  Notwithstanding any other ordinance which the city council may have adopted that may provide otherwise, during the period of this temporary land use regulation, Section 21A.44.030.H.2 of the Salt Lake City Code shall be modified to include footnote 1, which shall appear and read as follows: 

2.    District Specific Maximum Allowance:

TABLE OF DISTRICT SPECIFIC
MAXIMUM PARKING ALLOWANCE

¹An office use to accommodate government prosecutorial and civil legal services on a parcel located within 500 feet of a parcel on which a state courthouse is located may have a maximum of 2.7 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of usable floor area, but not more than 300 spaces for a building of any size.

Note: With the exception of the zones listed in the “Table of District Specific Maximum Parking Allowance”, of this section, single-family and two-family residential uses are limited to 4 outdoor off street parking spaces, including parking for recreational vehicles as identified in subsection 21A.44.020.G of this chapter.

      SECTION 4.  Duration.  These temporary land use regulations shall remain in effect for a period of six (6) months from the effective date of this ordinance, or until the effective date of the city council’s action adopting revisions to the city’s land use regulation pertaining to the areas and issues identified above, whichever occurs first.

      SECTION 5.  Effective date.  This ordinance shall become effective upon publication.

      Passed by the City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, this 15^th day of March, 2016.

Bill No. 7 of 2016.

Published: April 1, 2016.