SALT LAKE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
451 South State Street, Room 126
Present from the Planning Commission were Vice Chairperson Ralph Becker, Ralph Neilson, Cindy Cromer, Diana Kirk, Judi Short and Ann Roberts. Richard Howa, Lynn Beckstead, Jim McRea, Kimball Young and Gilbert Iker were excused.
Present from the Planning Staff were Douglas L. Wheelwright, Everett Joyce, Joel Paterson, Cheri Coffey and Katia Pace. Planning Director William T. Wright and
Brent Wilde were excused.
A roll is being kept with the minutes of all who attended the Planning Commission meeting. The meeting was called to order at 5:00p.m. by Mr. Becker. Minutes of the meeting are presented in agenda order, not necessarily as cases were heard at the Planning Commission meeting. Tapes of the meeting will be retained in the Planning Office for a period of one year after which they will be erased.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ms. Cromer moved to approve the minutes of Thursday, June 1, 1995 subject to the correction given to the secretary being made. Ms. Kirk seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Neilson voted "Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed.
Final motion on Petition No. 41 0-168 by Bod Brown requesting a conditional use for a group home at 2487 South 700 East in a Residential "BME-30" zoning district.
Mr. Becker gave a brief history of Petition No. 41 0-1 68 and explained that detailed minutes, staff report information and public submissions relative to this case had been given to each of the Planning Commission members in their packets the previous week with instructions to them to very carefully review all of the materials in preparation of a final motion on this matter to be made at this meeting. Mr. Becker pointed out that this was not a continuation of the public portion of the hearing on this matter and asked if anyone was ready to make a motion on this matter.
Ms. Cromer asked if there had been any additional discussion between the petitioner and the community.
Mr. Joyce stated that he had heard from several residents of the area who had originally been opposed to this project who had stated that they had had their concerns addressed by the petitioner and were now satisfied. The secretary informed the Planning Commission that Mr. Paul Mecham had stated that he was in the process of appealing this decision based on his opinion that the staff had not addressed the net cumulative negative impact of these kinds of facilities in this area.
Mr. Joyce informed the Planning Commission that they had mapped the information Mr. Wright had mentioned at the previous hearing that had been received from the State of Utah and had discovered that this area had four such facilities while the Central City area contained about 15 of them.
Mr. Neilson moved to approve Petition No. 41 0-1 68 based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions listed in the staff report, the four additional conditions that had been presented at the public hearing and with another added condition that a Community Advisory Board be developed to benefit the group home as well as the community in monitoring and regulating the services provided by the group home. Ms. Kirk seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Neilson voted “Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed.
PETITIONS and CONDITIONAL USES
PUBLIC HEARING- Petition No. 400-95-33 by Richard Fetzer for Jefferson Improvement Company requesting Salt Lake City declare two parcels of land at approximately 1412 South Front Street surplus.
Ms. Katia Pace presented the staff report outlining the major issues of the case and the staff recommendation, a copy of which is filed with the minutes.
Mr. Richard Fetzer, the petitioner, was present for this portion of the Planning Commission meeting and stated that he was in agreement with the staff report. Mr. Fetzer requested the Planning Commission approve this request.
Mr. Becker opened the hearing to the public and asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission. Upon receiving no response, he closed the hearing and opened it for Planning Commission discussion.
Ms. Kirk moved to support the staff recommendation and forward a favorable recommendation to the City Council on this petition. Ms. Short seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, and Mr. Neilson voted “Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed.
Mr. Becker requested the record reflect this action would need ratification by a quorum. He explained that a quorum was expected shortly. Ratification of this action occurred later in the meeting (see Page 3, last paragraph).
PUBLIC HEARING - Petition No. 400-95-26 by James S. Karras and Marlene Noda requesting that Lot 1 of North Hills Plat “B" and Lot 27 of North Hills Plat “27" be amended and that the stub street located between 529 and 545 Northmont Way be declared surplus and closed.
Mr. Joel Paterson presented the staff report outlining the major issues of the case, the findings of fact and the staff recommendation, a copy of which is filed with the minutes.
Mr. James Karras and Ms. Marlene Noda were present for this portion of the Planning Commission meeting and stated that they were in agreement with the staff report. Mr. Karras requested the Planning Commission approve this request.
Mr. Becker opened the hearing to the public and asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission.
Mr. Richard Dunlop, Vice Chair of the Greater Avenues Community Council, stated that their Board had unanimously voted to support this project.
Upon receiving no additional requests to address the Planning Commission, Mr. Becker closed the hearing and opened it for Planning Commission discussion.
Ms. Kirk moved to approve Petition No. 400-95-26 based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. Ms. Short seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, and Mr. Neilson voted “ Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed. Mr. Becker requested the record reflect this action would need ratification by a quorum. He explained that a quorum was expected shortly. Ratification of this action occurred later in the meeting (see following paragraph).
Ratification of Petition No. 400-95-33 by Richard Fetzer and Petition No. 400-95-26 by James Karras and Marlene Noda.
Ms. Cromer moved to ratify the actions on Petitions No. 400-95-33 and 400-95-26 now that a quorum was present. Ms. Kirk seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Neilson voted “Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed.
PUBLIC HEARING - Petition No. 41 0-1 79 by David Jenkins for Ensign Engineering requesting a conditional use for a planned development for offices and storage units to be located at 50 South Orange Street in a Business Park “BP" zoning district.
Ms. Cheri Coffey presented the staff report outlining the major issues of the case, the findings of fact and the staff recommendation, a copy of which is filed with the minutes.
Mr. Gifton Hensen and Mr. David Alter, representing Ensign Engineering, were present for this portion of the Planning Commission meeting.
Mr. Jay Sisson, the landscape architect for the project was also present and addressed the drought tolerant plant requirements of the Zoning Ordinance. Mr. Sisson stated that they preferred to install lawn rather than drought tolerant grasses and added that drought tolerant trees would not be as compatible with the lawn which would need to be watered on a regular basis.
Mr. Becker asked if any leeway were possible on this matter since the new ordinance required drought tolerant species.
Mr. Wheelwright explained that he believed the intent of the ordinance was to not require the intensive landscaping of the past that was heavily water dependent.
Ms. Coffey stated that the staff was working on revising the landscaping section of the ordinance to incorporate an adequate list of drought tolerant species for suggestions. Ms. Coffey pointed out that according to the ordinance, 80% of the landscaping would be required to be drought tolerant. Ms. Cromer stated that it did not make sense to plant drought tolerant trees in an area containing lawn.
Mr. Alter used briefing boards to demonstrate their proposal and also explained how they planned to construct the turn-around area utilizing the recommendations of the Transportation Division.
Mr. Becker opened the hearing to the public and asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission. Upon receiving no response, he closed the hearing to the public and opened it for Planning Commission discussion.
Ms. Cromer moved to approve Petition No. 410-179, based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions listed in the staff report and the turn-around area be subject to staff recommendations. Ms. Kirk seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Neilson voted “Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed.
PUBLIC HEARING - Petition No. 41 0-178 by Neighborhood Housing Service requesting a conditional use for a residential planned development for 12 single family lots to be located at approximately 650 West 300 North in a Residential "RMF-35" zoning district.
Ms. Cheri Coffey presented the staff report outlining the major issues of the case, the findings of fact and the staff recommendation, a copy of which is filed with the minutes. Ms. Coffey stated that the Transportation Division recommended the driveways for each house be nine feet wide if possible, rather than the standard eight feet wide.
Ms. Maria Garciaz, representing Neighborhood Housing Services, was present for this portion of the Planning Commission meeting and stated that this was a major project for them and they saw it as very critical to stabilizing this neighborhood. Ms. Garciaz stated that this project was actually Phase I of two phases and explained that they owned additional land in the area they intended to develop as Phase II in the future. She used renderings to demonstrate the designs they proposed to construct in their affordable housing project.
Mr. Neilson asked if they had any problem with the nine foot driveway requirement.
Ms. Garciaz said they did not have a problem with that requirement and added that their main concern was to not reduce their density below ten units.
Ms. Coffey explained that the set backs on 300 North could be slightly reduced to achieve the nine foot driveways. Ms. Cromer stated that the City Council would be looking at "cleaning up" some parcels of zoning in the City as a result of the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Project at some point in the near future and asked if it would make more sense, now that this parcel had a proposed project, to zone it SR-3 rather than leaving it zoned RMF-35. Ms. Coffey said she did not think it would be a problem to rezone it.
Ms. Cromer said it seemed to make sense to zone it SR-3 rather than have the entire project out of compliance with the ordinance.
Mr. Becker opened the hearing to the public and asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission.
Mr. Robert Warren, a resident of the area, asked what plans Neighborhood Housing Services had for their vacant ground behind this project and suggested that garages might be better located there.
Ms. Garciaz responded that one of their proposals was to use the area as green space for the children in the neighborhood. She explained that on the parcel adjacent to Mr. Warren's property they planned to develop a housing in fill project by moving an existing structure to that site.
Mr. Warren stated that he believed shared driveways would create problems and added that in his experience, most people did not use garages provided for them.
Ms. Garciaz stated that they hoped to control parking problems through design and landscaping aspects.
Mr. Bruce Honey, a resident of the area, asked what the RMF-35 zoning meant.
Mr. Everett Joyce explained that it allowed low-medium density, up to 1 5 units per acre, residential development. Mr. Honey stated that he had obtained a conditional use several years ago for a sixplex and asked if it would be impacted by the new RMF-35 zoning. Mr. Joyce informed Mr. Honey that conditional uses were only good for a period of one year and then expired if no building permits were issued for the project. Mr. Joyce then explained the density that would be allowed by the current zoning and suggested Mr. Honey keep it touch with the Capitol Hill Master Plan update process currently under way that covered this area.
Upon receiving no further requests to address the Planning Commission, Mr. Becker closed the hearing and opened it for Planning Commission discussion.
Mr. Neilson moved to approve Petition No. 410-178 based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions listed in the staff report and an added condition that the driveways for each unit be nine feet wide. Ms. Cromer seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Neilson voted “Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed.
PUBLIC HEARING- Petition No. 410-131 by Lee Atkin requesting an amendment to an existing site plan for a previously approved residential planned development consisting of 76 units located at 499 North Redwood Road in a Residential “BMF- 30" zoning district This item was canceled at the request of the Petitioner who withdrew the petition request.
PUBLIC HEARING. Petition No. 410-155 by American Housing Development Corporation requesting preliminary plat approval that will amend the Highland Park Plat “0" Subdivision and a conditional use for a residential planned development consisting of 14 single family lots to be located at approximately 2670 South Highland Drive in a Residential “RMF-30" zoning district.
Mr. Everett Joyce presented the staff report outlining the major issues of the case, the findings of fact and the staff recommendation, a copy of which is filed with the minutes.
In response to a question regarding setbacks, Mr. Wheelwright stated that the staff recommended the setback requirements be established by the geotechnical consultant.
Ms. Cromer asked for clarification on the right-of-way which appeared to be in the ownership of the parcel to the north of this project. Mr. Joyce explained that the right-of-way was equally divided between the two properties and the property owner to the north preferred a block wall be built between their properties and added that she gained access to her property from the north side of her property.
Mr. Jeff Jonas, representing American Housing Development Corporation, was present for this portion of the Planning Commission meeting and stated that the project would provide private single family detached dwellings under a condominium concept with all of the grass, roadways and common areas being maintained by a homeowner's association.
Mr. Becker opened the hearing to the public and asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission.
Ms. Sharon Ashcraft, Vice Chair of the Sugar House Community Council, said the community felt this project was quite an improvement over past proposals and the majority of the community was in favor of this project. Ms. Ashcraft stated that many of the residents of the area would like to see the canal turned into an amenity rather than see it left as a junk strip.
Mr. Harry Ewing, a resident on Crystal Avenue, stated that this project was a better project than previous proposals. Mr. Ewing said if there was any way an additional five feet could be provided on the northern boundary which abuts the back yards on Crystal Avenue, the residents on Crystal Avenue would appreciate it.
Mr. Doug Teague, a resident on Crystal Avenue, asked what the building heights would be if someone chose the option with the additional story.
Mr. Jonas explained that the extra story would only add about four or five feet because these homes were designed with trusses which already provided a good sized peak.
Mr. Teague explained that he had a hot tub in his back yard and expressed concern about losing some of his existing privacy. Mr. Jonas informed him that there would be no windows on the back side of the second level of these homes and that his privacy should not be disturbed by this project.
Mr. Jerry Schmidt, a resident of the area, stated that this project was superior to what had been presented in the past and added that he was in support of 14 single family units for this project. Mr. Schmidt requested, however, that the developer not underestimate the community's desire to ensure the existing trees be preserved. He requested Mr. Jonas repeat, at this meeting, his earlier commitment to preserve those trees.
Mr. Jonas responded that it was their intent to make every effort to preserve the trees but added that their landscape architect felt some of the trees were not of a quality that merited saving. Mr. Jonas said they intended to clean up the overgrowth and retain as much of the natural buffer as possible.
Mr. Charles Gibb, a business operator on Highland Drive who will share an entryway with the project, asked if access to this project would be equally shared between the 2700 South and the Highland Drive entrances.
Mr. Jonas stated that they were working with the owner of the property, whom Mr. Gibbs had his lease with, to mitigate any impacts of the entryway and to ensure it was to the property owner's liking.
Upon receiving no further requests to address the Planning Commission, Mr. Becker closed the hearing and opened it for Planning Commission discussion.
Ms. Short moved to approve Petition No. 41 0-1 55 for a conditional use for a planned development based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions listed in the staff report plus an added condition as a reminder to the developer relative to the preservation of the trees along the canal. Ms. Short suggested the clean-up of the canal area become a community project.
Mr. Jonas said he would be willing to work on the canal clean-up as long as the City was willing to work with him relative to security for the area. Mr. Jonas stated that if they were going to make this an attractive area, they needed to make sure it did not attract the wrong element since it was such a difficult area to patrol. Mr. Jonas said it might work better to allow the property owners on the west side of this project to incorporate that property into their property and let them be responsible for its maintenance.
Ms. Short further moved to grant preliminary plat approval for the Highlands of Sugar House Planned Development Subdivision subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. Ms. Cromer seconded the motion. Ms. Cromer, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Short, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Neilson voted ''Aye." Mr. Howa, Mr. Beckstead, Mr. McRea, Mr. Young and Mr. Iker were not present. Mr. Becker, as Chair, did not vote. The motion passed.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.