SH Land Use and Zoning Report August 2015

21st and 21st Small Area Master Plan – On August 12, the Planning Staff will provide the Planning Commission an update on the 21st and 21st Small Area Master Plan. The project includes an area stretching along 2100 South from approximately 2000 East to 2300 East. The small area master plan will address the characteristics of the future development of this neighborhood. The goal of this plan is to create an improved and beautified business district that is a unique destination but still remains compatible in scale with nearby neighborhoods. The plan will establish guidelines for private development, public spaces such as sidewalks, park strips and streets. The plan is currently finishing up the data gathering stage and is moving towards scenario development. (Staff contact John Anderson (801) 535-7214 or [email protected] )

The SHCC Land Use and Zoning Committee (LUZ) met on August 17.  We saw a proposal for a flag lot at 3101 South 900 East.  There will be two driveways, the original house at the front will be remodeled, and its garage will be replaced.  The rear lot will have a new house and garage.  The committee just approved this, and I will send a letter to the Planning Commission.  This is an area that could use something new.  There are many huge lots along this part of 900 East, and perhaps this project will spur some improvements for some of the other properties.  We also talked to the CVS developers, for 1300 East and 2100 South.  They wanted to talk about the negative letter I wrote to the Planning Commission concerning their first proposal (it did not fit the Master Plan in many ways).  They will try to come up with a better plan that is more compliant, and will take that to the City Council.  They need to have the rezone approved by the City Council, and are going to ask the City Council to approve a rezone of the second parcel (that the Planning Commission denied) even though that will give them 40 more parking spaces than they need.  Not sure if we will ee their plans before it goes to City Council.

The Westminster College rezone was on the August 26 meeting of the Planning Commission.  They did not make a decision.  Instead, they voted to continue the public hearing to a future date, probably in October.  They have had very little public input concerning the rezone, and worried that there maybe some opposition in the neighborhoods that they have not heard yet.  They will re-notice the people who live around the college.

Sugar House Streetcar Zoning – This is tentatively scheduled for a Discussion September 22 at City Council before planners write an ordinance.  They will try to advertise this to get more public input.  We will post the recommended zoning report (from the Planning Commission and probably amended by City Council Staff) to our website shortly, as soon as we incorporate the new map into the report.

Vision Statement – At a recent Planning Commission meeting, one of the planning managers told the Commission that they did not have to pay attention to our “Vision Statement” since it had not been formally adopted by the City.  Since everything in the Vision Statement came out of our Sugar House Master Plan, we will be working to see how we can get it “approved” by the city so the Planning Commission can read it and take its principles into account when they make decisions about proposals in Sugar House.

SH Fire Station The city is moving forward to build a new Fire Station #3 in Sugar House at 2425 South 900 East, on part of the parking lot for the Forest Dale Golf Course (the part where the city stores salt in the winter).  This was recommended by the Planning Commission on February 25, 2015, and now is up for review by the City Council.  On September 1, the City Council will have a briefing regarding rezoning the parcel and remove it from the Open Space inventory, during their work session. October 20 will be a City Council  Public Hearing, and November 10 the City Council will vote.  The actual rezone won’t take place for six months following the vote. In the meantime, the proposal will go to the Planning Commission to review the project for conditional use, site and building design.  There will be a separate public hearing at that time.  We will have this item on our SHCC Agenda at that time and staff will attend to answer questions.

The Crossing at Sugar House is completing plans for Phase II, and this item should be on our Land Use agenda, as well as SHCC in the coming months.  The Boulder Ventures project Phase II (on McClelland and Sugarmont approximately) is also close, and we should see it on the Land Use agenda and SHCC agenda soon as well.

The next meeting of the LUZ committee will be September 21 at 6 p.m. in the Sprague Library.