SALT LAKE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING City & County Building 451 South State Street, Room 326, Salt Lake City, Utah
A roll is being kept of all who attended the Planning Commission Meeting. The meeting was called to order at 5:33:19 PM. Audio recordings of the Planning Commission meetings are retained for a period of time.
Present for the Planning Commission meeting were: Chairperson Matt Lyon, Commissioners Maurine Bachman, Weston Clark, Ivis Garcia, Clark Ruttinger, Andres Paredes, Brenda Scheer and Sara Urquhart. Vice Chairperson Carolynn Hoskins; Commissioner Emily Drown were excused.
Planning Staff members present at the meeting were Nick Norris, Planning Director, Cheri Coffey, Assistant Planning Director, Chris Lee, Principal Planner; Michelle Poland, Administrative Secretary and Paul Nielson, Senior City Attorney.
Field Trip
• The field trip was canceled for this meeting.
5:33:39 PM
APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 22, 2017, MEETING MINUTES. MOTION 5:33:45 PM Commissioner Garcia moved to approve the March 22, 2017, meeting minutes. Commissioner Clark seconded the motion. Commissioners Bachman, Clark, Garcia, Ruttinger, Scheer and Paredes voted “aye”. Commissioners Urquhart and Lyon abstained from voting as they were not present at the subject meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR 5:33:59 PM
Chairperson Matt Lyon stated he had nothing to report.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 5:34:10 PM
Mr. Nick Norris, Planning Director, stated the Planning Priorities topic would be moved to the end of the agenda.
5:34:32 PM
Alley Vacations and Street Closure at approximately 408 W Dalton Ave -Justin Kimball, the authorized agent of property owner 1030 Salt Lake City, LLC, is requesting to vacate two alley sections and one street section in order to incorporate the land into the adjacent properties at the above listed address. The alleys and street are surrounded by parcels owned by the applicant and are not utilized for transportation purposes or access to other properties. The proposed changes are to facilitate consolidation of parcels for potential future development. The subject alleys and street are located north of Target at approximately 408 W and 1040 S in the CG (General Commercial) zoning district within Council District 5, represented by Erin Mendenhall. (Staff contact: Chris Lee at (801)535-7706 or chris.lee@slcgov.com.) Case number PLNPCM2017-00087 & PLNPCM2017-00088
Mr. Chris Lee, Principal Planner, reviewed the petition as presented in the Staff Report (located in the case file). He stated Staff was recommending the Planning Commission approve the petition as presented.
The Commission and Staff discussed the following:
• If there were any utilities in the subject streets.
• The number of alley vacations presented to the Commission in the past few months and the reasoning behind those petitions.
Mr. Justin Kimball, property owner, reviewed the history of the property and why it was configured in the current manner. He asked the Commission to approve the proposal.
PUBLIC HEARING 5:44:32 PM
Chairperson Lyon opened the Public Hearing. Seeing no one wished to speak; Chairperson Lyon closed the Public Hearing.
The Commission and Staff discussed the following: • If language could be added to the property deed reverting the use of the alley to its original use, if the proposed use were changed in the future.
MOTION 5:46:38 PM Commissioner Bachman stated regarding Alley Vacations and Street Closure at 408 W Dalton Ave PLNPCM2017-00087 & PLNPCM2017-00088, based on the information in the Staff Report, the policy considerations for street closures and alley vacations, and the input received during the public hearing, she moved that the Planning Commission forward a positive recommendation to the City Council regarding the proposed alley vacations (PLNPCM2017-00087) and street closure (PLNPCM2017-00088) at approximately 408 W Dalton Street with the condition listed in the Staff Report. Commissioner Urquhart seconded the motion. Commissioners Scheer, Bachman, Clark, Garcia, Ruttinger, Paredes and Urquhart voted “aye”. The motion passed unanimously.
5:48:05 PM
Regulation Changes for Open Space and Similar Uses This is a continuation of a public hearing from February 8, 2017. Salt Lake City is requesting amendments to the Zoning Ordinance relating to the regulations of open space and other similar uses. The amendments include text changes that address issues relating to development standards, updates to the use tables, definitions and sign regulations relating to park, adaptive reuse, urban farming, open space and public facility uses. Related provisions of Title 21A-Zoning may also be amended as part of this petition. The proposed regulation changes will affect various sections of the zoning ordinance. (Staff contact: Cheri Coffey at (801)535-6188 or cheri.coffey@slcgov.com.) Case number PLNPCM2010-00406
Ms. Cheri Coffey, Planning Manager, reviewed the petition as presented in the Staff Report (located in the case file). She stated Staff was recommending the Planning Commission forward a favorable recommendation to the City Council regarding the petition.
The Commission and Staff discussed the following:
• If the City ever plans to have a solar farm as a public utility.
• How other cites regulate restaurants in parks.
• The leasing and public process for standalone restaurants.
• The different types of solar arrays that would and would not be allowed in open
spaces.
• The parks that would allow restaurant uses.
• The different sizes of parks in the city and the difference between concessions
and restaurants.
• Encouraging more concession stands in parks.
• The proposed restaurant regulations were so limiting, there really was not a
reason to have it.
• The best way to allow and limit restaurants in parks.
• How food trucks were regulated in parks.
PUBLIC HEARING 6:11:21 PM
Chairperson Lyon opened the Public Hearing.
The following individuals spoke to the petition: Ms. Cindy Cromer
The following comments were made:
• There are issues with allowing restaurants in parks that could take away from the
neighborhoods surrounding the parks and create a competition for the available
buildings in parks.
• Should allow those that have leased and improved current structures to remain.
• Opening this up was a can of worms that did not need to be addressed at this
time.
Chairperson Lyon closed the Public Hearing.
The Commission, Public Utilities and Staff discussed the following:
• If solar farms would be put in open spaces.
• The types of public utilities that were in open spaces and how those were
regulated.
• The current and proposed exemptions from lot and bulk requirements of the Open
Space Zoning District for Public Utilities in the proposal.
• It the public utilities uses should be conditional uses instead of permitted uses or
exemptions.
• Uncomfortable giving a blanket exemption to Public Utilities because plans
change.
• How public engagement was required for each Department under the city
requirements and standards for engagement and transparency.
• How to best address public utilities in open spaces.
• Language that could be added to the ordinance to regulate how public utilities are accessed and regulated.
• How conditional uses are regulated.
• Rezoning open spaces that house utilities to zones appropriate for public utilities.
• The next steps for the proposal and language for the motion.
MOTION 6:50:16 PM Commissioner Ruttinger stated regarding Regulation Changes for Open Space and Similar Uses PLNPCM2010-00406 based on the information in the memorandum, previous staff report findings, testimony and discussion by the Planning Commission, he moved that the Planning Commission transmit a favorable recommendation for the proposed text amendments to the City Council with the recommendation to eliminate the restaurant provisions in parks and to recommend that the City Council consider the potential impact of allowing public utilities to have a complete exemption in the Open Space Zone. Commissioner Urquhart seconded the motion.
The Commissioners discussed the following:
• The position on restaurants.
• If the Commission liked the provision to allow standalone reception centers in
Parks.
Commissioners Bachman, Garcia, Ruttinger, Paredes and Urquhart voted “aye”. Commissioner Clark and Scheer voted “nay. The motion passed 5-2.
6:52:47 PM
Growing SLC A Five Year Housing Plan -The Housing and Neighborhood Development Division Staff will provide the Planning Commission an update on the draft Growing SLC a Five Year Housing Plan. The draft plan is a city-wide policy document relating to housing. The HAND Division has worked with the community in developing a draft plan and will provide an overview of the draft plan policies at the work session. (Staff contact: Sean Murphy (801)535-6168 or sean.murphy@slcgov.com) Case number PLNPCM2017-00168
Ms. Melisa Jensen and Mr. Sean Murphy, Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) Division, gave and overview of the draft plan and polices (located in the case file). They asked the Commission for comments, changes and recommendations for the proposal.
The Commission and Staff discussed the following:
• The current average median income for Salt Lake.
• How affordable housing was funded and why it was currently lacking.
• How foreign investments played a part in the lack of housing.
• If low income individuals and cost burden housing were related
• The availability of newly constructed apartments in the city.
• The cost of development for the newer units.
• The ratio between office and living space vacancy.
• The number of total units that would be coming on line in the next year.
• The use of impact fees and if fees were used to subsidize housing.
• How the school districts are affected by people moving place to place and if the quality of the school were the reason for people moving.
• The statistic on multiple families living in the same home.
• How the fair housing, evections and foreclosures affected housing in the city.
• How undocumented individuals are treated with purchasing homes.
• The implementation steps to work with ADUs and if loans were available to help construct ADUs.
• The acquisition of hotels, motels by the City and how that program worked.
• The next steps for the proposal.
o The proposal would be brought back to the Commission at a later date.
Planning Priorities -Planning staff will update the Commission on upcoming agendas, Division workload, and priorities.
The Commission and Staff reviewed the following:
• Future Commission agendas.
• Taking a longer field trip to review past petitions.
• The workload of the Planning Division.
• The driving factor for the increase in the number of applications received.
• The trend for the Planning Commission.
• The priority list for the Planning Division.
• The order of the agenda items and how the Commission reviewed them.
o There were conflicting statements on whether to hear items with fewer or
more public participants to the first of the agenda.
• Make sure comments from Commission are relevant and to the point.
• Ensure the presentations from the Applicants are relevant and to the point. • May set a time frame for the applicant’s presentation to help move the meeting
along.
• Have staff recommend to the applicant the necessary presentation details and that the applicant should add information that would
• supplement the details identified in the Staff Report and not repeat what was in the Staff Report.
• Limit the number of people presenting for applications.
• The benefits of work sessions and briefings prior to the Public Hearing for larger projects.
The meeting adjourned at 8:11:23 PM