SHCC Meeting Minutes – March 2006

From Sugar House

Attendance

Trustees present

Su Armitage, Russell D. Callister, Philip Carlson, Sarah Carlson, Barbara Green, Art Haddow, Mark Holland, Michael G. Kavanagh, Emil Kmet, Andrea Moesser, David Mulder, Cabot Nelson, Tina Ottesen, Derek Payne, Helen Peters, Susan Petheram, Ruth Price, Ray Pugsley, Judi Short, Steve Wilson, Rawlins Young (20)

Trustees excused

Dolores A. Donohoo, Susan Petheram, L. Rex Sears, Grace Sperry (4)

City/State Representatives

Annette Daley, SLC Mayor’s Office; Soren Simonsen, SLC Council; JR Smith, SLPD; Ben Johnson, SLPD (4)

Others

Jennie Thueson, Mike Hodson, Fuben Rocha, Robert Cheney, Joyce Cheney, Sarah Moyer, Raphael Cordray, Cindy Cromer, Lynne Olson (9)

Meeting Minutes

Call to order, Minutes approval

Secretary Cabot Nelson noted that Lex Traughber‘s presentation was inadvertently remove completely from the minutes.

Minutes Amendments

Cabot explained that the minutes were the longest ever and he trimmed them down, accidentally removing Mr. Traughber’s presentation. The amendment:

SH Business District update on the rezone and master plan. It was adopted on Decemeber 13. Key points: 1) 2001 – guidelines. 2) Site design and review process. Not land use but design. It implemented the walkable communities ordinance. 3) Max building setback requirements. 4) Max building heights. 5) Business Dist 1, Business Dist 2. Dist. 2 has lower heights. Dist. 1 max height of 30′ with no residence but with residence, every floor matched 1-to-1 residence and non-residence, 105 foot max. height. Structures parking involved. District 2 has max 30 feet with no residence. With residences, 1-to-1 match with a max height of 60 feet. 6) Floors beyond 30 feet require a stepback. This should keep with the character of scale and mass. 7) First floor with active use: clubs, galleries, residences. 8) Provision for developer options for residential required or transferred within district. It makes sure residential development occurs. It will happen in near future. Helen Peters will make copies of points. Ruth Price asked about anything regarding hidden hollow. Lex Traugber mentioned the shadowing and design as part of the handbook in 2001. Also, any increase in parking. Grace Sperry asked about the steps in place for residential. Either they start building or put up the money. Susan Petheram inquired about PDF copies of maps. Yes, they are on the city’s web site. Russell Callister mentioned the Redman building.

Ruth Price moved to remove the comment to “keep tabs” on the trustees and suggested the new language to read “that the trustees be accountable to their neighborhoods.”

Cabot Nelson moved to approve the minutes as amended, with Phil Carlson seconding. It passed, 13-0-0.

Phil Carlson moved to amend the agenda to allow a comment on the 2000 E Road Diet between the Land Use and Zoning presentation and the parliamentary postmortem. Rawlins seconded. It passed, 12-1-1.

Treasurer’s report

Dolores Donohoo could not make it. With no activity, the account is the same amount.

Chair’s report

There will be an open house with the planning staff on the 7th of March at 4:30pm – 6:00pm at the SLC council chambers to amend zoning and ordinances about portable (A-frame) signs’ distance from adjacent businesses. The SLC Council will review nonconforming uses in zoning, limitations to expansion, etc. The Council will also amend the definition to the zoning laws regarding multifamily dwelling in Downtown.

Public Input

Mike Hodson wanted clarification on a rumor. He referred to the discussions on the additions on new dwellings being built and heard that someone said “To raise a family, move to Sandy”. Was this true? We don’t know if someone actually said that. Mr. Hodson was here on the behalf of neighbors who were upset. If it was said, it was possibly in the discussion of the infill development, “monster home” issue. Was there some animosty to families? Consensus was no. Absolutely not. Phil Carlsonspeculated that maybe it has something to do with bullying opponents to monster houses.

Mr. Hodson talked about 3 rentals on his block with absentee owners. He wondered if issue has been brought up. He’s had problems and contacted property owners. There are crime concerns and he’s been noting license numbers. Mark Holland referred to Officer Smith and Councilor Simonsen who could address concerns.

Rawlins Young mentioned that Gayen Wharton was last chair of housing committee. We had a transportation committee. Now there is only one committee. Ruth Price suggested that we vote or approve committee assignments.

Crime Update

By Officer J.R. Smith, SLPD, tel. 799-4640. He introduced Ben Johnson; Jason Hathaway is now active duty in the military. You can call Officer Johnson at 799-4642. In reference to Mr. Hodson’s rental concerns, Officer Smith encouraged him to contact the Utah Apartment Association. It is a good organization to belong to. It teaches landlords how to be good managers. For those that don’t care, we must pass info to get them to care. Next step is education; the last is the hammer. Crime stats down in most areas. 36 car break-ins, while last year there were 62. The general trend is seems positive. One major concern was Einstein’s bakery near 15th and 15th. The suspect scoped out the store, then later robbed the sole employee. Described as 5’9″, white male, with bushy eyebrows, wearing a blue or black beanie. In Fairmont Park, a 16 y.o. female met 2 boyfriends in park. It resulted in an aggravated assault. The girl went to jail for instigating the fight. All were juveniles. There were 2 arsons last month, result of insurance fraud. Suspect set paper aflame near sprinklers. Officer Johnson praised neighborhood watch patrols. Get to know your neighbors. The more involved, the better. Keep up the good work.

Mayor’s Office Report

by Annette Daley. Ms. Daley also serves on the Salt Lake Reads Together committee. The literature ranges from young adults and children to adults. They will announce the new book to read soon. To know about events in your neighborhood, volunteer, etc., visit the city web site, under Mayor‘s office “community events”. March 6 is the start for reservations for the parks.

City Council update

By Soren Simonsen. Next month’s utility bill will have a newsletter on city council’s outreach and work sessions. District 7 is scheduled for August. This is for the SLC council to tour significant projects, maybe for the PRATT trail. The council approved theTRAX extension from the Delta Center to the Intermodal Hub, but first they need an interlocal agreement. There will be two TRAXstations, one at 400 West 125 South and 525 West 200 South. Informally, there have been two bids for the SH monumentrestoration at the RDA meetings, held on the second Thursday of each month. There is discussion about the Granite block. This may be held off until there’s more known about the project. Maybe even relocate the monument, however, the SHCC before expressed opposition. There might be a new public safety building pending a possible bond election. Maybe new SLPD precinct even in SH, possibly combining it with the SLFD. Some sharing before, but not a full combination. The pet ordinance might change. Changing licensing for dogs now, maybe extended to cats and ferrets with certain limits per household. Ruth Price asked about whether owner occupied rental encourage or discourages family housing. Councilor Simonsen will work on that.

Mayor Anderson would like to visit the SHCC in May.

Sugar House Merchants Association

By Barbara Green. There is the regular meeting of the Sugar House Merchants Association on the first Wednesday of every month at 8:15am at the Fiddler’s Elbow.

Sugar House Business Spotlight

Write Image, with Miriam Footer, as brought to the SHCC by Mark Holland. Write Image did not attend.

Hospice Alliance

By Rebecca Brockbank. She did not attend.

Sugar House Street Fest proposal

By Raphael Cordray and Nate Smith. The proposal is to close Highland Drive each Friday, 5-10pm, between Memorial Day to Labor Day, to allow for a street fair. Compare this with the attempts at Farmers Market on 2100 South. They distributed handouts containing examples. The would be access to artists and vendors and boon to local businesses. Merchants have been positive on the idea.

Mark Holland asked about publicity. Compare it with last year. Mr. Smith needed to explore that further. Meet to get publicity. The public would get used to the Thursday gatherings at the Gallivan Center, then Fridays at SH. Helen Peters recommended that they go to city for permits, talk to area business owners, and the merchants association. Barbara Green said for the 2nd year’s market, visibility was a problem. Shutting down Highland would be tough. Need to consider the toilets. Rawlins Young asked about bus route detours. Cabot Nelson thanked the presenters but had concerns about closing Highland Drive. Helen thanked them for the work they’ve done, supported their efforts to take this to the city and to do what the need to move forward. Su Armitage seconded.

Phil Carlson supported, but worried that closing Highland Drive might make it futile. Compared with the experiences in N. Cal., Reno, DC are on secondary streets. Buses routes would be a problem. Ray Pugsley pointedly asked if we close Highland, where will traffic go. It will impact neighbors and the neighborhoods. Tina Ottesen suggested not focusing on Highland. Why not behind library, Simpson avenue, Southeast of ShopKo, Southwest of Red Lobster. Sarah Carlson asked about later time, after rush hour.Ruth Price inquired about the SH park board authority. Emil Kmet said that according to a transportation study, Friday evening is the busiest. Michael G. Kavanagh suggested Fairmont Park. Russ McCallister recommended talking to property owners. In the future, there might be something that would fit. Judi Short moved to call the question, Tina seconded. Passed 15-0-0. Motion carried, 13-3-0.

Legislative Update & Bylaws Discussion

L. Rex Sears couldn’t attend. Rep. Roz McGee will speak to us next month.

Trustees’ Status

By Phil Carlson. He called 3 trustees regarding their expired petition. He left a message for Fred Conlon. Phil moved that we sendGene Davis a new petition and copy of bylaws highlighting responsibilities of trustees and letter. Sarah Carlson seconded. There would be no time limit for this project. Ruth Price would like this to be formalized and standard. Discussion ended, 11-0-1. Motion carried, 10-2-1. Phil moved to remove E. Paddington Campos as a trustees. Cabot seconded, then withdrew. Cabot said he would have kept the second if a reason was stated. Mark Holland announced that Janice Anderl has resigned.

Land Use & Zoning Committee

By Helen Peters. Handout with SH Biz District text changes. Also, for sale for $3, the 2000 University of Utah community plan for the Granite Furniture block, notably, what one might do with the canal on that block. Cindy Cromer asked that someone attend the hearing on Tuesday for the nonconforming use. This relates to the transit corridor along 400 S. TRAX alignment. Seven years ago, there was a call for higher density housing, but later for linear higher density housing with the 75′ height max. with an option on conditional use to go 125′ max. No step back and no compatibility component. Only a 10′ setback. Helen moved to support theECCC and send a letter to get the same sort of treatment that we received. We require stepbacks. We can have residential abut to commercial. Judi Short seconded. Rawlins Young was in favor of the initial motion to send the letter. Helen move to send a letter of support that all new transit corridors in the city get the same sort of treatment that we received like buffer zones and setbacks. Ray Pugsley offered an amendment make it SH oriented. Have this apply to all transit corridors. Ruth Price seconded. Cabot Nelsonmoved to end debate on the amendment, Ruth Price seconded, and it passed 12-1-0. Amendment passed, 9-4-0. Cabot moved to end debate on the main question, Phil seconded, and it passed, 11-0-1. The main question passed. 9-4-0.

2000 East Road Diet

By Phil Carlson. There were suggestions by his neighbors that a road diet would help his neighborhood. The current road design encourages speeding. This is on 2000 East between 2700 and Parley’s Way. He wants the city traffic engineers to comment on narrowing to two lanes with parking. He asked for committee assignment to Dave Mulder or a new committee. he moved to form a committee for the 2000 East Road Diet with a second by Judi Short. Rawlins Young mentioned that half of the road in question is in the SH Park neighborhood and under state-owned I-80. Ruth Price called the question with Steve Wilson seconding. It passed, 12-0-0. The main motion passed, 12-1-0.

Harrison Avenue multifamily development

It was announced that the Harrison development near 700 East was turned down.

Parliamentary Post Mortem

At the request of the chair, Ray Pugsley agreed to postpone is presentation for another meeting.

Adjourn

Adjourned, 9:34.