SALT LAKE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Room 126 of the City & County Building
451 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah
A roll is being kept of all who attended the Planning Commission Meeting. The meeting was called to order at 5:32:20 PM. Audio recordings of the Planning Commission meetings are retained in the Planning Office for an indefinite period of time.
Present for the Planning Commission meeting were: Chairperson Michael Gallegos; Vice Chair Emily Drown Commissioners Lisa Adams, Michael Fife, Bernardo Flores-Sahagun, Clark Ruttinger, Marie Taylor, Matthew Wirthlin and Mary Woodhead. Commissioner Angela Dean was excused.
Planning Staff members present at the meeting were: Nick Norris, Planning Manager; Elizabeth Buehler, Principal Planner; Michael Maloy, Principal Planner; Michelle Moeller, Senior Secretary and Paul Neilson, City Attorney.
FIELD TRIP NOTES:
A field trip was canceled or this meeting.
5:32:33 PM
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE March 13, 2013 and March 27, 2013 MEETINGS
MOTION 5:32:39 PM
Commissioner Fife made a motion to approve the March 13, 2013 minutes. Commissioner Flores-Sahagun seconded the motion. Chairperson Gallegos Vice Chair Drown; and Commissioners Flores-Sahagun, Taylor and Woodhead abstained from voting as they were not in attendance at the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
5:33:02 PM
Commissioner Woodhead made a motion to approve the March 27, 2013 minutes. Commissioner Drown seconded the motion. Commissioners Wirthlin, Fife and Ruttinger abstained from voting as they were not in attendance at the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR 5:33:36 PM
Chairperson Gallegos stated he had nothing to report at this time
Vice Chairperson Drown stated she had nothing to report at this time.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 5:33:44 PM
Mr. Nick Norris, Planning Manager, explained a motion was required to appoint two individuals to the Downtown Master Plan Committee. He reviewed the Committee and the necessity to keep the number of appointments to two Commissioners.
The Commission and Staff discussed the number of meeting and time commitment that would be involved with being a member of the Committee. The Commission discussed who the two members should be. It was stated that anyone could attend the meetings however, careful consideration was required to ensure a Planning Commission quorum would not be present at the meetings.
Commissioners Wirthlin made a motion that Commissioners Fife and Dean be appointed to represent the Commission on the advisory committee for Downtown Master Plan. Commissioner Woodhead seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
BREIFING 5:37:31 PM
PLNPCM2011-00682 Plan Salt Lake - The Salt Lake City Planning Division is developing a new city-wide vision and comprehensive plan. The purpose of Plan Salt Lake is to coordinate existing city policies, establish the roles of different plans and help guide the decision making process. Staff would like to present the anticipated project scope of work and schedule and solicit feedback on the proposed stakeholder committee. (Staff contact: Elizabeth Buehler at 801-535-6313 or elizabeth.buehler@slcgov.com). Case Number PLNPCM2011-00682.
Ms. Elizabeth Buehler, Principal Planner reviewed the petition as presented in the Staff Report (located in the case file). She stated the petition would be brought back to the Commission for further review and approval in November. She stated Staff was requesting for one or two members of the Planning Commission to be appointed to the Champions Group which would help discussed the plan on a quarterly basis and spread the word about the plan through the community.
The Commission and Staff discussed what the word equity meant in the context of the proposal. Staff stated it meant making sure that all members of the City’s diverse community were considered.
Commissioners Woodhead and Chairperson Gallegos expressed interest to be part of the Champions Group.
5:41:00 PM
Commissioner Fife made a motion to appoint Commissioner Woodhead and Chairperson Gallegos to the Champions Group for Plan Salt Lake. Commissioner Drown seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
5:41:31 PM
PUBLIC HEARING
Chairperson Gallegos stated the Parley’s Meetinghouse item had been postponed to a later date.
The Commission and Staff discussed when the item would be brought back to the Commission for review. It was stated that the date was unknown.
5:41:53 PM
Circulation and Streetscape Amenities Plan – Mayor Ralph Becker is requesting the City adopt the Circulation and Streetscape Amenities Plan for the Sugar House Business District as an addendum to the Sugar House Community Master Plan. The plan will improve transportation in the Sugar House Business District by making better use of public transit, managing parking supply, and increasing walkability and on-street cycling opportunities. This type of project must be reviewed as a Master Plan Amendment. The plan affects properties located in Council District 7, represented by Søren Simonsen. (Staff contact: Michael Maloy at 801-535-7118 or michael.maloy@slcgov.com. Case number PLNPCM2012-00799.)
Ms. Robin Hutchinson, Director of Transportation reviewed the petition as presented in the Staff Report (located in the case file). She stated Staff was recommending a favorable recommendation be sent to the City Council regarding the petition.
The Commissioners and Ms. Hutchinson discussed the benefit of breaking up city blocks. Ms. Hutchinson stated it was to move traffic more efficiently and give people a more direct route to where they were going.
The Commissioner and Ms. Hutchinson discussed why bicycling on busy streets such as Highland was encouraged and what the benefits were. Ms Hutchinson stated it depended on the cyclist and the City is trying to accommodate all cyclists. She reviewed the complete street ordinance for the city which required all modes of transportation be reviewed when street changes were proposed.
Mr. Preston Stinger, Fehr and Peers, stated the proposed changes promoted more pedestrian friendly areas along the roadways
The Commission and Applicant discussed where bicycle lanes would be located, where the street car would run and how the Transportation Department decided what mode of transportation received the most benefit. They discussed the pros and cons of a pedestrian orientated community and the effects on the community because of the changes to transportation in these areas.
PUBLIC HEARING 6:07:15 PM
Chairperson Gallegos opened the Public Hearing;
Ms. Judy Short, Sugarhouse Community Council, stated plans for the future needed to be made and this proposal did not address growth. She stated hopefully with all the other proposed transportation plans everything would come together. Ms. Short stated closing the right turn lane at the Monument Park may cause traffic get worse rather than better. She stated one missing item was a parking district and hoped the City was continuing to look into it. Ms. Short stated the Community Council approved the plan and supported a favorable recommendation.
The following individuals spoke in favor of the petition: Ms. Amy Barry, Mr. Soren Simonsen and Mr. Bill Cordray.
The following comments were made:
• Monument plaza road should be closed to all but pedestrians
• Traffic issues in Sugarhouse are a continued problem
• Important that the circulation plan is adopted to help promote walkability in Sugarhouse and heighten pedestrian safety
• Large blocks should be broken up
• Increase intersection density to better facilitate vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian movements
• Street car should be intergraded into the Shopko block
• Need to further expand the study and broaden the way transportation is addressed in Sugarhouse
• Bicycle improvements should be made on 2100 South and 600 East
• Remove all references to the Streetcar in Monument Plaza as the community had rejected that part of the plan
• Parking district should be reviewed and considered
• 1300 East should be treated as a residential street not a conduit to the University’s, 700 East should be the main thorough fair
The following individuals spoke in opposition of the petition: Mr. George Chapman and Mr. Jim Johnson
The following comments were made:
• Traffic on Highland is terrible and the plan will make it worse
• On-street parking needs to be removed to allow traffic to flow
• Vehicles will use other routes creating traffic issues in those areas
• Plan would increase air pollution with proposed road diets
• Increases the danger to bicyclist and pedestrians
• Right hand turn lane at the Plaza should not be removed
• Street parking needs to remain around the Plaza
The Commission discussed parking in the area and what the options where for business and patrons. They discussed parking structures underneath existing buildings.
Mr. Ed Butterfield, RDA, state there would be one level of paid public parking in the Meacham development.
Chairperson Gallegos closed the Public Hearing.
Ms. Hutchinson stated the Transportation Department was discussing initiating a study regarding the parking district in Sugarhouse. She reviewed what a parking district was and what would be studied.
Mr. Stinger stated one of the goals was to promote the existing parking structures and coordinate with owners of future parking structures to allow public parking.
The Commission and Applicants discussed leasing options for parking, bus routes, public transportation and reducing the size of the Shopko block. They discussed the Shopko
parking area, the parking requirements for Shopko, redevelopment options for the area and developing drop off areas for pedestrians.
Ms. Hutchinson stated the proposal would benefit air quality by promoting alternative modes of transportation. She stated she would like to work one on one with Mr. Johnson regarding parking for his business.
The Commission and Applicant discussed the Streetcar on Monument Plaza, removing the language from the proposal and the possibility of a route to the University.
DISSCUSSION 6:50:38 PM
The Commissioners discussed the adding language to the motion to remove the reference suggesting the Streetcar not go into Monument Plaza, language encouraging, development of smaller blocks in the Shopko area and encouraging the development of a parking plan.
MOTION 6:53:18 PM
Commissioner Fife stated regarding petition PLNSUB2012-00799 the Circulation and Streetscape Amenities Plan for the Sugar House Business District ,based on the findings listed in the Staff Report, a summarization of items one through four of the recommendations, testimony received, plans presented and discussion among the Commission, He move that the Planning Commission transmit a favorable recommendation to the City Council in regards to PLNSUB2012-00799, a request by Mayor Ralph Becker to adopt the Circulation and Streetscape Amenities Plan for the Sugar House Business District as an addendum to the Sugar House Community Master Plan with the following changes: language be added to remove references to the Streetcar going into Monument Plaza, as the Shopko area is redeveloped small blocks are encouraged and encourage a parking study to come up with parking solutions for the Sugarhouse Business District. Commissioner Woodhead seconded the motion. Commissioner Taylor voted “nay”. Commissioners Drown, Adams, Fife, Flores-Sahagun, Ruttinger, Wirthlin and Woodhead voted “aye”. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 6:55:07 PM