31 Aug SHCC Meeting Minutes – August 2020
Sugar House Community Council August 5th, 2020
There is a hawk light that will be installed across from Sugar Alley on Highland Drive.
We will approve the minutes from the past two meetings next month
We have two new trustees joining us tonight
First we have James Pearce, who is going to represent the County Club. He is a product of Sugar House. Attended Highland High and grew up in this area. He works for Savage Company as an HR Director.
Will motioned for his application to be approved, seconded by Judi. All Approved
Second we have Eric Castrejon who works for Salt Lake City Public Utilities. He is the storm water coordinator. He is going to represent the Fairmont Neighborhood. He is a transplant from Chicago and has been in Sugar House since 2017.
Will motioned for his application to be approved, seconded by Judi. All Approved.
I believe we have 29 trustees on the SHCC.
Secretary Report:
We need the two new trustees head shots. We have had a few trustees petitions expire but have all expressed interest in staying on board but with COVID we feel it is unsafe to go door to door to gather signatures. We will have a lot of stuff to clean up once it is safe.
Michael G.’s Spotlight on Business:
Brandon introduced Quinn Burton. They moved to Sugar House about a year and a half ago. She owns Arrichion Hot Yoga. We have 6 studios in North Carolina. We are opening in the Sugar House neighborhood and it is our first studio in Utah. It is in the Dee’s Block just off of 700 East and 2100 South. We offer Hot Yoga and Circuit Training. We are currently doing virtual classes. We have a new student deal for $30 for 20 consecutive classes either in person or virtual. We hope to open in the next week and a half or two weeks. The landlord has been incredible to work with.
Direction of Sugar House Chamber:
Erika and Brandon have proposed starting a new committee within the SHCC. We have begun the video series for the Sugar House Businesses which have been highly effective. We have had multiple conversations with the Chamber and with their approval we are going to combine the chamber and our new committee. We are excited about the opportunities and the future. It is the definition of grassroots. We have full support of the SHCC to make this move.
Benjamin Sessions joined us to give us a review of the Sugar House Chamber and has the full Chamber support for this merger. Brandon is working on a vision document to show what we think the future will look like.
George Chapman brought up the idea of closing some streets in Sugar House to help these businesses like they are doing in other cities. The restaurants in Sugar House are struggling and they need help.
We need to get creative for these businesses. The city did not put the tables out on monument plaza this summer because of COVID. Could talk to the city about bringing out the tables for places for people to eat.
Tom Millar, SLC Transportation, TYPOLOGIES:
I wanted to come and address what we are hearing the public. It is called the street typologies design guide. It is a design guide not prescriptive. It doesn’t supersede the public engagement process. It is strictly a design guideline. We will continue to have public engagement, data collection, workshops this is just a guideline. The guide seeks to establish a vision for safer/slower streets. There are 15 design types of streets that replace the traditional way of looking at streets that the city has had in its masterplan for the past 25 years. It marries the Land Use and the transportation use. The survey last year asked what our streets are doing well and what they aren’t doing well. We asked people to prioritize what they wanted out of their streets. Answers varied to people’s priorities depending on what they were doing during the day. Number one and number two priorities for the public right away were mobility of people and greening. We came up with the 15 typologies based on this survey. The one we have been hearing about the most is typology number 13 which is neighborhood streets. Concerns have been almost extensively about on street parking. We know that neighborhood streets are the upmost importance to us. The neighborhood streets do support wider sideways and wider park strips. The tradeoff is making some things wider and somethings have to narrow. We made these changes based on what we heard from the public. The whole point of this is for us to listen to the community. We are going to close this survey by August 15th. A question from Soren is if a street is working in SLC is the cities intent to change the street. And the answer is no we wouldn’t change a street just to change a street. The health of the trees is different throughout the city. How do we maintain these trees when it is the home owners responsibility? The city should maintain the tree but it is up to the home owners to call the city and it is the homeowners responsibility to water the tree. Typologies is going to give us a starting point for every street in the city.
Laura Briefer is the director of Public Utilities and she is here to talk about the replacement of a small section of the Jordan/Salt Lake Canal.
This piece of infrastructure is the cornerstone for SLC’s water supply. This canal was completed in 1882 and is 28 miles and was an open channel. Salt Lake City entered into a number of exchange agreements to use our canyon water up Parley’s Canyon, Millcreek Canyon and Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon. We acquired those rights and in exchange we promised the farmers the delivery of Jordan River and Utah Lake water to their farms. Salt Lake City serves water outside of our boundaries. The maintenance of infrastructure is critically important to the community. Historically this canal was open but over time sections of the canal are now placed in a concrete box. The part we want we want to replace is part of this concrete box and was replaced probably 100 years ago. It isn’t in great shape and needs to be replaced. We are working on having trees exist with underground infrastructure which isn’t working so well at this section.
Natalie Moore- gave a presentation. We have done some piece meal fixes to this canal but this section will be from Highland Drive and Ashton Avenue. This section has deteriorated to the point where it needs to be replaced. The tree roots have found their way into the canal, around the canal, it’s a mess. Showed pictures of the existing canal. We will enhance the urban aesthetic on along the west side of the Highland Drive. From Wilmington to Ashton. We will widen the sideway to create a more pedestrian friendly experience. We will fill in the tree canopy along Highland Drive and we need to increase the lifespan of the canal. He hope to using some bioretention cells which would limit erosion and be a sustainable technology. The second option is to also use suspended pavement which would be above the Silva cell suspended pavement underneath which allows tree roots to grow unimpeded. It is very good for root health.
We hope to start construction in Fall of 2020 and be done by Spring 2021. We don’t have plans to daylight any of the canal. There are sections south that are daylighted but we won’t do it in this area. A question is it a full rebuild from Ashton to Wilmington? It is a full rebuild. We will continue to have two directional traffic at all times on Highland Drive. The construction needs to be done from October to March because the canal is turned off.
There is a bond project coming in 2023 to rebuild much of Highland Drive. We will coordinate with Public Utilities to not have to do these projects twice.
Lynn Jacobs-Salt Lake City Transportation with update of Local Link:
Please check it out. http://locallinkstudy.com/
Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, Millcreek and City of Holladay are teaming up on Local Link to learn how you travel in and around your community and to develop innovative, multi-modal options for more convenient, connected trips.
The cities are launching two studies as part of this effort: a circulation study analyzing biking and walking connections into the Sugar House Business District, and a transit-focused study analyzing transportation options between Sugar House and Millcreek with an extension into Holladay.
The circulation study is happening now and will help us better understand active mobility along roads shared by each city, and the transit study will kick off this fall and allow us to look closer at how transit improvements could strengthen north-south links among the communities. Each study component will identify gaps in the existing transportation network and the challenges faced by those traveling among these four cities.
While these studies are taking a fresh look at transportation options, Local Link is building on a foundation of previous studies and proposed plans including the 2013 Sugar House Circulation Plan.
How you can get involved
- Take the circulation study survey here and tell us how you travel now, and how you want to travel in the future
- Leave a comment on our map here and show us the specific locations you want to see improved to help your travel.
- Sign up for updates here to stay involved and learn about additional opportunities for input when the transit study kicks off this fall!
- Share this website with your friends, families, employees and networks! Encourage them to get involved and make their voices heard.
Local Link is the final planning effort before significant investments are made to improve travel in these communities, so your input is needed now more than ever to make sure we get it right!
You know your city, and your insight is critical to helping us develop and implement safe, inviting, sustainable and comfortable travel choices for everyone.
Jeremy Chatterton-Principal of Highland High School
We are going on all online to start the school year. We felt for the safety of our teachers, staff and kids that this was the best approach. We will continue to monitor as we go and will look at going back into the classroom when we feel it can be done safely.
Amy Fowler-District 7 City councilwoman
Update from the city. Council has been out for three weeks and is meeting next Tuesday so not too much to report.
Meeting Adjourned.
