SHCC Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014

05 Mar SHCC Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014

Sugar House Community Council Board of Trustees Meeting

Meeting Minutes – March 5, 2014

Trustees Present: Sally Barraclough, Amy Barry, Laurie Bray, Ed Dieringer, Deb Henry, Michael G. Kavanagh, Benny Keele, Matt Kirkegaard, Joedy Lister, Larry Migliaccio, David Mulder, Sheila O’Driscoll, Jack Perry, Maggie Shaw, Judi Short,  Carole Straughn, Christopher Thomas, Rawlins Young

Trustees Excused Absent: Robin Baster, Topher Horman, Steve Lester, Scott Kisling

Trustees Absent: Russ Callister

The meeting called to order at 7:00pm by Maggie Shaw SHCC Chair

A motion to approve the minutes was made by Amy and seconded by Matthew.

Minutes were approved unanimously.

 

Secretary Report: Sally Barraclough

Trustee petitions:

• Sheila O’Driscoll’s petition expired this month.  After 20yrs on the Sugar House Community Council, she has decided to retire.  Sheila gave a short speech reviewing the history of the work that was accomplished during her tenure as a trustee.
• Other trustee petitions that expire soon are Laurie Bray in April and Russ Callister in May.  They are both at-large trustees.

 

Treasurers Report: Robin Bastar Absent

 

Chair Report: Maggie Shaw

Maggie shared the February 2014 edition of Sunset Magazine which highlighted Sugar House in the article “The West’s Best Places to Live”. Both Laurie and Benny were quoted in the article.

The mayor’s office will be sending representative every other month.  Maggie circulated the update for this month.

Amy provided SHCC Trustee business cards for our use.  There are a limited number so only take what you need.

 

Fire Department Report: Absent

 

Police Report: Detective Scott Mourtgos

• Crime Report District 7 – compared to Feb 2013, Feb 2014 and showed a decrease in Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Larceny/Theft.  There were increases in Burglaries, Motor Vehicle Theft and Vandalism.  The most dramatic increase was in vandalism due to a large number of incidents reported at businesses and in the neighborhoods surrounding 2500 E Parley’s Way. It is believed that teenagers living in the area are shooting out windows with BB guns.  The residents are asked to report any suspicious activity to the police.
• Detective Mourtgos distributed “See Something, Say Something” cards for reporting suspicious activities to the police department. He reminded us to use our smart phones to take a picture of suspicious vehicles and text it to the police department.
• Numerous arrests of auto thieves have been made in the past month. There has been a lot of activity in the area of 13th E 21st S and numerous arrests were made.  Residents are again reminded not to leave their cars running and unattended for any amount of time. Detectives are hoping to see improvement in the area of auto thefts next month.
• The increase in burglary was concentrated in the area of 1300 E, 2700 S. Officers have arrested a burglar committing crimes in that area.  The Police Department’s Public Information Office is presenting a burglary prevention program to a senior’s apartment complex that was targeted. They are asking the public’s assistance in reducing burglaries by securing homes and storage sheds.

Judi asked about teens hanging out during school hours in Fairmont Park. School Resource Officers have been notified. They have been going by the park looking for truant students, most of which are from Highland High School. Police officers are also spending more time patrolling the park.

Larry asked how graffiti is categorized on the crime report.  It is included in the vandalism statistics.  There were only a couple incidents reported this month from District 7.

Chris has a neighbor who left him a note regarding suspicious people in his neighborhood.  Detective Mourtgos asked that citizens call the department directly for a more timely response.

Deb asked about a pedestrian who was hit on 27th south and 9th east about one week ago. Detective Mourtgos was not familiar with that specific incident.  He will get the details and report back.

 

Public Comments for Items not on the agenda:

• A member of the public who lives near Westminster is having problems with her sewer system not draining properly.  She wondered if this was due to street work being conducted in the area.  Both Amy and Maggie live in this area and have had to replace their sewer lines in the recent past.  The lines are old and have become plugged with tree roots.  Larry suggested calling Public Utilities who will investigate whether the problem is on the city side or the homeowner’s side.
• Sara Rose Tannenbaum presented a short informational presentation  about SmartTrips.  It is a program to foster knowledge about public transportation in your neighborhood to improve air quality.  If you want to contact Sara Rose you can email her at [email protected].  The program is being run by the Department of Sustainability and was funded with grant money.
• Member of the community complained about the parking situation around the Fairmont Aquatic Center.  Construction workers are using the lot which does not leave enough parking for people using the aquatic center.  Judi suggested that calls be directed to Bill Knowles at 801 580-2626.

 

Committee Reports:

Land Use and Zoning:Judi Short

SHCC Land Use and Zoning Report February 10, 2014

• They discussed the Sugar House Vision Statement, which will presented later tonight with a request for input from the trustees.
• Land Use had a second meeting  on February 17 to discuss The Legacy at Sugar House, which will also be presented tonight.
• On Feb 12, the Planning Commission approved Gold’s Gym expansion at the Brickyard Plaza.
• On Feb 18 during the City Council Briefing session, the Council will receive a briefing about a proposed Sugar House Streetcar Corridor Master Plan and Zoning Amendments. The proposed plan and amendments would enact form-based zoning in some areas along and near the Sugar House Streetcar “S” Line. A potential outcome of adopting the proposed amendments would be to change the zoning designation of 2.85 acres of land in Fairmont Park along Sugarmont Drive near 900 East Street from Open Space to Form-Based Edge Area. Changing the zoning designation could allow the acres to be developed.  On March 25th they will hold a public hearing and will vote later on the plan and amendments.

 

• At the Feb 26 Planning Commission Meeting they discussed and approved the McClelland Court Planned Development and Preliminary Subdivision – 1019 East 2700 South.  They also reviewed the Bike Pedestrian Master Plan.  The Planning Commission disapproved of a petition to declare the Sugar House Tennis Courts at 968 East Sugarmont Dr. as surplus property.  When city staff was asked what the plan was to replace the open space, they did not have a very plausible response, and the PC said they would not approve this until there was a plan in place to replace the Open Space.  Amy clarified that the Planning Commision can only forward recommendations to the Mayor’s office. They do not have the power of oversight to approve or deny petitions.  They did however send a negative recommendation regarding this issue.

 

 

The next Land Use meeting will be March 17. It will be a joint meeting with the Parks Committee, to review proposals for Imperial Park, and also to talk about the Form-Based Code rezoning.  That meeting will be at 6 pm at the Sprague Library.

 

Parks and Open Space: Sally Barraclough

The POST Committee Report, February 10th, 2014.

• Christopher Lee from the Blaine area of Emigration Creek presented a proposal for restoration of the creek bed on Blaine.  The neighborhood is organizing a large restoration project.  SHCC is being asked to participate in some future cleanup and planting days.
• Amy Barry, Chair of the Parks, Natural Lands, Urban Forestry, and Trails Committee gave us an update on projects throughout the city.  At Wasatch Hollow – restoration for drainage, and weed control will start this summer.  Rotary Glenn Park near Hogle Zoo- bathrooms are being rebuilt by the city and the county is planting new shrubs and trees.  The city will be providing fencing.  Fairmont Park – they are currently addressing the tennis court situation.  Alternative locations for the courts should the city decide to move them would include the soccer fields on 9th east, or the salt storage lot near Forest Dale Clubhouse. The PNUT Committee wants to insure that there is good outreach to the neighborhoods south and west of the area regarding the tennis courts.  Imperial Park is in the final design stages, with construction to start this summer.  The Parley’s Trail is mostly laid out from Tanner Park to Hillside Park north of the Redeemer Lutheran Church on Stratford Ave.
• Parley’s Trail Update Sugar House Park – between Feb 27th and March 13, contractors will finish the trail segment at the west end of the park.  Approximately .5 acres of existing sod and four trees will need to be removed.  The trees and sod will be replanted.  The current phase of The Draw construction will be completed by the end of April.  During the next 6-8 weeks the traffic lanes on 13th East will be shifted four more times while WW Clyde Construction finishes their work. A ribbon cutting ceremony for The Draw is scheduled for June 6th.  There will be some work days for Hidden Hollow scheduled in April, prior to the ribbon cutting. The county will start construction of the I-80 segment of the trail from Tanner Park to 1700 East by mid-year.  The trail construction in the S-Line streetcar corridor is progressing rapidly.  The contractor, Stacy-Witbeck expects to be finished by mid May.
• Announcement – Landmark Design will be presenting the preferred alternative design for the Imperial Park on Thurs, March 13th at the Forest Dale Golf Course Clubhouse.  The public is invited to attend.

Transportation: Deb Henry

• Sara Rose Tannenbaum gave a presentation on SmartTrips. The goal of the program is to familiarize citizens with transit options in their neighborhoods in order to get cars off the road. There are three busses and the S-Line that come right near the Aquatic Center that should be considered as options to driving cars to the swim center.
• The committee discussed offering business discount coupons to get people to use transit systems to get to shops in Sugar House.
• Deb has written a letter to UTA and to the newspaper regarding extending the hours of operation for the streetcar.
• Michael asked for clarification on the hours for the S-Line.  Deb is requesting that the S-Line run later than 9pm in the evening.  This would accommodate among other things, people attending the Summer Concert Series in Pioneer Park and the Red Butte Arboretum Concerts.

The next Transportation Meeting will be March 17th at 7:00 in the Sprague Library.

Arts and Cultural: Laurie Bray

• Sara Rose and Laurie are working on a walking tour of Sugar House.  Lynne Olson has put together a map of the public art installations in the Sugar House area, which they hope to include in the activities for Sugar Days.  If you have any other ideas for Sugar Days, please email Laurie.
• At the SH Chamber meeting this morning, they discussed holding an event for all the Olympians from Sugar House and Westminster College.  There were 23 members on the Olympic Team from Sugar House/Westminster College which was 10% of the US team.  They won four medals. The celebration will be held at the end of April or first part of May.
• The Sugar House Art Walk this month is on March 14th from 6-9pm with about 14 different venues.  There is a list of locations on their Facebook page.

Communications and Outreach Committee: Chris Thomas

They did not meet.  Their next meeting will be Monday March 24 at the Sprague Library.

Community Groups and Projects:

SL Community Network: Judi Short

The new City Council members came and introduced themselves.

 

Sugar House Chamber of Commerce: Laurie Bray

See comments in the Arts and Cultural section

Presentations:

Legacy at Sugar House

Aabir Malik, Colmena Group

Paul Fairholm, Western States Lodging Management

Lyle Beecher, Beecher Walker Architects

This is Phase II of the Wilmington Gardens project which is a RDA site located on Wilmington Avenue.  Phase II is the future redevelopment of the Sugar House Center directly south of the Wilmington Gardens project.   The RDA desired to have a centralized parking structure that would allow people to park once and access multiple areas of Sugar House.  In conjunction with a parking structure, the RDA also requested that it be a mixed use structure.  Research by the Colmena Group found that there is a lack of diversity of housing in the new developments in Sugar House.  They determined that the area is lacking in assisted senior living housing.  They have hired senior living operator, Western States Lodging Management, to assist with the design of the new development.

Paul Fairholm is a partner in Western States Lodging Management which operates under the Legacy name.  Legacy, the largest assisted living operator in Utah, also has facilities in Arizona and California.  Paul gave an overview of the function of assisted living facilities.  They are quite different from traditional nursing homes, as most clients need minimal assistance with daily life skill activities.  Legacy would provide three levels of senior living care facilities which include Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care.

Aabir continued the presentation by reviewing the renderings of the building and the surrounding area of Sugar House Commons.  The intent is to bring back streets in the Commons, breaking the large parcel into smaller, walkable blocks. This is a 5 to 10yr plan.  A street running along the west side of the new building will allow for small retail shops to be included in the development.  Challenges include masking the parking structure architecturally to increase curb appeal, and dealing with the east to west slope of the parcel.

Lyle Beecher presented the architectural renderings.  There will be a facade and added retail to mask the parking levels of the building and improve the streetscape. In order to make the stories of the parking structure and housing level, the west side/corner will need to be 10ft higher to account for the slope.  The east side will meet existing height requirements (105 ft) but the west side will require a variance (115 ft ) from the planning commission.  Also, current code says that for buildings over 30 ft, the podium (patio) levels must be set back 15 ft.  They are also requesting a waiver of that 15 ft set back, in order to keep all the lower level parking covered and masked. The plaza and patio levels will be landscaped with plants.

• Amy asked about the openness and ventilation for the parking portion of the structure.  The parking levels will be masked but they will still meet the 50% open requirement for passive ventilation.
• Larry asked about the number of parking stalls.  There will be 585 parking stalls which was a requirement by the RDA so that surface parking in the Sugar House Commons could be eliminated.
• Sally asked how many stalls would be used by employees of the assisted living facility.  The number of stalls required by the RDA factored in stalls for employees.
• Deb inquired about the cost per stall and Aabir said that while he didn’t have an exact figure, it will be the most expensive parking project that they have done in SLC due to the architectural masking design.
• A member of the audience asked about the width of the sidewalk and if the street complies with the “complete street” criteria.  The sidewalk will be 15 ft to 12 ft wide with planters and trees.
• Larry asked about the clearance within the parking structure.  It will be 10 ft floor to floor.
• A member of the audience asked if there are plans to capture rainwater for watering the landscape features. Aabir said they are working on that for Phase I on the north side of the street.  If that is successful they will implement it on Phase II.
• An audience member asked about the rates for the assisted living facility.  There will be variable rates based on the unit and the market rate structure.
• Sheila asked how many units will be built.  There will be 274 units in 6 stories built on top of 4 levels of parking.
• Rawlins asked about the size of the retail portion of the structure.  There will be approx 4200 sq ft on the Wilmington side and 8400 sq ft on the west side facing the new street. The ceilings will be 12-25 ft high.

There were no objections from the trustees for the height and setback variance requests.  Judi will be writing a letter of support to the Planning Commission from the SHCC.

‘Sugar House Town Center’ Vision Statement

Joedy Lister SHCC Trustee from  Dilworth

The vision statement came out of the Land Use and Planning committee in an effort to assist developers as they work on projects for Sugar House Business District.  The statement focuses on the area between 900 E and 1300 E and from 1-80 to just north of 2100 S.  The Land Use Committee started working on this in January.   The document gives developers an idea of our vision for the town center of Sugar House.

“The Sugar House Business District and adjacent areas are seeing a dramatic infusion of development and transit energy. While many of the changes are helping to improve the area, it is also apparent that some developers, each with varying levels of familiarity of the nuances of Sugar House’s history and its vision for the future, are delivering products of erratic quality and acceptance. This Statement is an effort to present our vision of the key development components of our business district and beyond. It is, by design, a concise document that is meant to provide a general overview of intent and initiate further discussion with the members of the Sugar House Community Council”.

The statement covered the following topics:

1. Overall Look and Feel
2. A “Village” Environment
3. Urban Form
4. Honor the Past

The document includes 7 key questions that developers should ask themselves as they consider projects for the town center of Sugar House.

After discussion by numerous trustees regarding different aspects of the vision statement, it was recognized that this is a fluid document that will potentially change over time.

A complete version is posted on our website www.sugarhousecouncil.com.

A motion to approve the vision statement was presented by Matt and seconded by Ed.  The motion was passed unanimously by the SHCC trustees.

Business Spotlight: Michael G. Kavanagh

Soren Simonsen:  Community Studio

Community Studio was started 6 yrs ago.  It is an architecture, urban design, planning, and real estate development holding company. Soren has been involved in construction, design and planning for over 25 yrs and he felt a real need for a company that is focused on urban design and building great places. Their specialties are Community Planning, Public Involvement, Zoning including form-based codes, and Urban Design. His previous work includes urban design development and zoning around the 45th South Traxs station, lead architect for the Park City and Ogden Intermodal Hubs. He was also one of the designers for the Daybreak Trax and the Frontrunner extensions to Ogden and Provo. As an architect, he designed the Swainer Eco Center in Park City.  He also designed the Two Dancing Cats building in Sugar House.  His new project is a real estate development project called Impact Hub Salt Lake.  It is a co-working space for social entrepreneurs that will open late spring at 150 South State St.  It has  14,000-15,000 sq feet and will provide a workspace for freelance and entrepreneur workers who are focused on using business ideas to help solve social and environmental problems.  They currently have 400 members and expect approximately 500 by the time they open the doors.  They will have approximately 100 people working on site, and will be providing professional space for those who work out of their homes but need a space for meetings or events. They will be providing business training for entrepreneurs who want to launch a business. The Impact Hub is part of an international network that currently has 50 co-working spaces around the world on six continents and started in London in 2005.   Soren brought business cards, and there is more information on the website, facebook, and twitter.

Community and City Presentations:

City Council Update: Lisa Adams District 7 Excused

Library Events: Dolly Rauh

Dolly asked us to review the Library Calendar for coming events.

Amy asked about next Hive Pass event for the transit passes.  The Sprague Library be hosting this event on Saturday March 29th from 10:30 to 2:30.

Deb reminded us that the Hive Pass is also good for Frontrunner Trains.

 

Update on Air Quality Legislation:  Christopher Thomas

Christopher works for the nonprofit HEAL Utah.  He urged us to support a number of air quality pieces of legislation that are currently working their way through the statehouse. At this time none of them have made it all the way through and it is very near the end of the legislative session. Representative Becky Edwards and Senator Gene Davis are both sponsoring air quality bills that need our support. If you want timely updates you can sign up to receive action alerts about these bills from the HEAL Utah website.

Report from the Mayor’s Office:  Shawn McDonough

See the e-mail for this month’s update.

Shawn will be at the April meeting

Meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm