The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, September 17, 2013, at 5:26 p.m. in Room 326, City Council Office, City County Building, 451 South State Street.
In Attendance: Council Members Carlton Christensen, Kyle LaMalfa, Stan Penfold, Luke Garrott, Jill Remington Love, Søren Simonsen, and Charlie Luke.
Staff In Attendance: Mayor Ralph Becker; Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; David Everitt, Mayor’s Chief of Staff; Margaret Plane, City Attorney; Joel Paterson, Planning Manager; Ray Milliner, Principal Planner; Everett Joyce, Senior Planner; Nick Norris, Planning Manager; Russell Weeks, Senior Public Policy Analyst; Marina Scott, City Treasurer; Gina Chamness, Budget Director; Michael Akerlow, HAND Director; Neil Lindberg, City Council Legal Director; Lehua Weaver, Council Research and Policy Analyst; Robin Hutcheson, Transportation Director; Rick Graham, Public Services Director; Jeff Snelling, City Engineer; Nick Britton, Principal Planner, Cheri Coffey, Assistant Planning Director; Amber McClellan, Constituent Liaison/Policy Analyst; Jan Aramaki, Legislative Systems/Project Manager/Policy Analyst; and Sonya Kintaro, Chief Deputy City Recorder.
Councilmember LaMalfa presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 5:26 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS
#1. 5:26:50 PM Receive a briefing regarding proposed zoning changes to property located at 401 East 900 South. The proposal would bring an existing nonconforming commercial business into compliance with City zoning regulations by amending the zoning map from RMF-30 – Low Density Multi-Family Residential to CN – Neighborhood Commercial and amending the Central Community Master Plan Future land use map. Although the applicant requested that the property be rezoned to CN – Neighborhood Commercial, consideration may be given to rezoning the properties to another zoning district with similar characteristics. Related provisions of Title 21A- Zoning may also be amended as part of this petition. (Petition No. PLNPCM2013-00156 and Petition No. PLNPCM2013-00398) View Attachments
Ray Milliner and Joel Paterson briefed the Council with attachments. A discussion was held regarding the current use of the property and whether this property belonged in the CN – Commercial Business zone or the SNB – Small Neighborhood Business zone. Mr. Milliner said the rezone request would allow outdoor dining on the property. He said he considered this property as part of the CN - Neighborhood Commercial zoning because it was a corner property.
#2. 5:32:03 PM Receive a briefing regarding changes to the City’s nonconforming use regulations. The proposed changes would restructure the section text for clarity and make City code more consistent with State code and best practices. The changes would make it more difficult for property owners to maintain a right to a nonconforming use by eliminating standards in City code that were not recognized by the State. Related provisions of Title 21A, Zoning, may also be amended as part of this petition. (Petition No. PLNPCM2013-00265) View Attachments
Everett Joyce and Nick Norris briefed the Council with attachments. Discussion followed regarding bringing Salt Lake City’s code on nonconforming use regulations in line with the State code as it pertained to the abandonment of property. Mr. Joyce and Mr. Norris explained the code changes would strengthen the City’s ability to regulate and define when a nonconforming use had been abandoned or lost and would implement the City’s long-term land use goals.
#3. 5:40:42 PM Receive a briefing regarding the issuance and sale of up to $10,000,000 aggregate principal amount of the City’s sales and excise tax revenue bonds for the Salt Lake City portion of the Sugar House Streetcar. The bonds would be used to finance all or a portion of the cost of building Phase 1 of the Sugar House Streetcar line and the planned greenway that runs next to it. View Attachments
Russell Weeks, Marina Scott, and Gina Chamness briefed the Council with attachments.
Discussion followed regarding the debt service and using impact fees for greenway construction. Mr. Weeks said the RDA would be contributing a cash amount and it was a general fund obligation. Ms. Chamness said the City was not eligible to use impact fees because the City did not own the greenway. She said she would find out more about the ownership requirement.
#4. 7:11:08 PM Receive a follow-up briefing relating to the City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Capital improvements involve the construction, purchase or renovation of buildings, parks, streets or other physical structures. Generally, projects have a useful life of five or more years and cost $50,000 or more. View Attachments
Lehua Weaver, Michael Akerlow, Robin Hutcheson, Rick Graham, Jeff Snelling, and Neil Lindberg briefed the Council with attachments.
7:12:23 PM Councilmember Jill Love discussed her recommendations for the CIP projects list. She said if funds could be found, she wanted to add public restrooms in the downtown area ($400,000), pedestrian improvements (additional $200,000), and the Fairmont Soccer Fields (additional $200,000). She said the Council may want to take $600,000 from the baseball fields item which was no longer on the Parks Department priority list.
7:16:34 PM Councilmember Christensen discussed using impact fees for new traffic signals (100% eligible), transportation master plans (up to 10% eligible), bicycle lane and pedestrian improvements city-wide (10% eligible), and pedestrian safety devices. He said there was approximately $626,500 worth of impact-fee eligible items on the list. He also suggested a round-about be built at Wakara and Arapeen and fund the 800 South and 900 South East-West Corridor Study.
7:20:33 PM Discussion followed regarding using impact fees to build public restrooms. Mr. Akerlow said impact fees at 11% could be used to improve or upgrade an existing restroom in a park based on growth. Ms. Weaver said administration would return with a report on using impact fees for adding new restrooms in parks.
Ms. Weaver said the estimate for 1700 South, between 500 East and 700 East, was reduced by $850,000. Discussion followed regarding incorporating Fairmont Tennis Courts and all Sunnyside improvements in this bond.
7:38:01 PM Discussion was held regarding funding for the baseball fields. Mr. Graham said funding would provide significant upgrades to the Little League fields similar to those done at Herman Franks Park. He said the field at Jordan Park was playable for Babe Ruth and softball but the proposal from the community was to rotate the field. Mr. Graham said to rotate the field and make improvements would cost $137,000. He said the $25,000 appropriation would do very little.
7:47:19 PM Discussion was held regarding rebuilding a tennis court on C Street and providing pickle ball courts. Mr. Graham said he had four proposals for pickle ball courts.
Other discussions were held regarding Sunnyside Avenue, Imperial Park, jogging and walking pathways, a pavement preservation plan through a multi-year period, soccer field maintenance, Fairmont Soccer Field, and Fairmont Tennis Courts.
8:05:04 PM Council Chair LaMalfa asked Ms. Hutcheson to provide more information on Sunnyside Avenue. Ms. Hutcheson said there were three parts to the plan: 1) the basic overlay, 2) the complete streets installation which included pedestrian improvements and median installation between 1300 East and Foothill, and 3) a multi-use path using easements on the north side.
Discussion was held regarding the plans for bike lanes, the public engagement process, and eligibility of impact fees for Sunnyside Avenue.
8:14:10 PM Councilmember Love proposed the following:
•Add $200,000 to Fairmont Soccer Fields
•Add $200,000 for a signal at South Temple and 1100 East
•Add $325,000 for downtown public restrooms
•Add $50,000 for a Parleys Way road diet design
•Add $200,000 for the Trans-Corridor Plan
•Add $225,000 for Wakara Way at Arapeen Way
•Add $55,000 for signage at the I Street Jump Park
•Add $100,000 for pedestrian crossings that were slated for Hawk lights
•Add $100,000 for routine park maintenance
•Add $350,000 for the Sunnyside pedestrian improvements
8:16:19 PM Councilmember Love said the money would come from the following:
•$259,000 from the C Street courts
•$361,000 from the baseball field from the west side
•$700,000 from the two west side tennis courts
She said impact fees would pay for the Wakara Way and the Trans-Corridor plans. She also discussed her view on the Fairmont Tennis Courts and the improvements on Sunnyside Avenue.
8:18:40 PM Straw Polls taken:
•Move forward with Councilmember Love’s proposal of items to fund. All Council Members were in favor.
•Fund Sunnyside medians. Council Members Simonsen, Garrott, and Luke were in favor of funding. Council Members Christensen, Penfold, Love, and LaMalfa were not in favor.
Discussion was held with Mr. Lindberg regarding acquiring right-of-way on the north side of Sunnyside Avenue through condemnation. Discussion followed regarding the Cycle Track.
Straw Polls taken:
•Fund Sunnyside Multi-Use Path. All Council Members were in favor.
•Fund Fairmont Tennis Courts. The majority of the Council Members were not in favor.
•Fund Cycle Track. Council Members Christensen, Penfold, Love, and LaMalfa were in favor. Council Members Garrott, Simonsen, and Luke were not in favor.
8:54:45 PM Ms. Weaver briefed the Council regarding the outcome of Councilmember Love’s proposal after applying the savings obtained by using impact fees and implementing the changes resulting from the straw polls. She said Administration would return with final numbers next week.
Ms. Weaver briefed the Council on bonding for the items discussed. She said they reduced the 1700 South bond by $850,000 and added just over $1 million for the Sunnyside items that were supported in the straw poll. She said the bond would be for $20 million, assuming a 10-year term at a 5% rate. Councilmember Love asked Administration to look at their best plan for 1300 South. She said the Council was interested in enhancements for pedestrians.
Straw Poll taken:
•Fund a 10-year bond. The majority of the Council Members were in favor.
#5. 6:16:36 PM Receive a briefing regarding an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement for Wasatch Summit Phase 1. The interlocal agreement includes several public entities, including the City, UDOT, UTA, Sandy, Cottonwood Heights, Alta and Park City, and Summit, Wasatch and Salt Lake counties. Under the agreement, Salt Lake City would contribute $200,000 over two years. The Wasatch Summit Program is an effort to identify and address short and long term issues associated with transportation, land use, municipal watershed protection, environmental protection, wilderness designation and economic opportunities in the Central Wasatch Region. View Attachments
Mayor Ralph Becker briefed the Council on the Wasatch Summit Program.
Discussion followed regarding the current status of SkiLink legislation.
#6. 5:45:59 PM Receive a briefing regarding proposed changes to the City’s zoning regulations for parking. The changes are designed to encourage sustainable transportation and mobility development by integrating Transportation Demand Management (“TDM”) strategies. Among others, the proposed changes include:
•Reducing the number of curb cuts allowed in residential and nonresidential districts.
•Capping the number of off-street parking spaces allowed.
•Clearly delineated pedestrian access in parking lots.
•Expanding regulations for bicycle parking, location and design.
Related provisions of Title 21A (Zoning) may also be amended as part of this petition. (Petition No. PLNPCM2010-00468) View Attachments
Russell Weeks, Nick Britton, Cheri Coffey, Nick Norris, and Robin Hutcheson briefed the Council with attachments.
Mr. Weeks corrected the staff report on the allowable parking space requirement. He also said consideration should be given to the maturity of the current transit system. He said allowing businesses to count curb side parking as part of the total parking requirement could eventually lead to spill-over parking in residential neighborhoods.
Mr. Britton said other goals were to streamline the ordinance to allow more flexibility for all types of development except for the single 1-2 family. He said the changes supported the TDM strategy system which would allow large developments with flexibility when building or expanding. Mr. Britton said the infrastructure was in place to support the ordinance. He said larger developments would be encouraged to put in infrastructure such as bicycle lockers, covered bicycle parking, tier bicycle parking, and commuter showers. He said the ordinance would allow credit for curb-side parking if it were adjacent to the property in commercially intense zones and would not have impact on residential parking. Ms. Coffey said the code supported the City’s Sustainable City Code Initiative to become a more walkable and bikeable neighborhood in requiring delineated pedestrian paths in parking lots and electric vehicle charging stations.
Discussion followed regarding parking requirements in existing zones surrounded by residential areas, minimum versus maximum requirement of parking spaces, provisions for carpool spaces, and pedestrian orientation.
#7. 8:59:55 PM Hold a follow-up discussion about their Council Retreat which was held on Tuesday, February 5, 2013. This discussion included projects relating to the Education Philosophy Statement. View Attachments
Amber McClellan and Jan Aramaki briefed the Council with attachments. Ms. McClellan said staff was proposing a 1-year action plan for civic readiness as the theme for 2013.
Councilmember Garrott said a commitment by the school district to include civic readiness as part of their permanent curriculum was needed to be effective. Council Chair LaMalfa asked staff to add this topic to the agenda of the meeting with the school district in October. Discussion followed regarding ways to pursue civic readiness in schools, defining civic readiness, knowing what tools were available to use to shape their community, and what City Council Members could offer by teaching classes to the community on civic readiness.
#8. 9:11:54 PM REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INCLUDING A REVIEW OF COUNCIL INFORMATION ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Council may give feedback or staff direction on any item related to City Council business.
See File M 13-5 for announcements.
#9. REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
This item was not held.
#10. CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION IN KEEPING WITH UTAH CODE SECTION 52-4-204, FOR ANY OF THE ALLOWED PURPOSES.
This item was not held.
The meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m.
This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript as additional discussion may have been held; please refer to the audio or video for entire content.
This document along with the digital recording constitute the official minutes of the City Council Work Session meeting held September 17, 2013.
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