02 Aug SHCC Meeting Minutes – August 2000
SUGAR HOUSE COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes for August 2, 2000
Trustees: Alice Edvalson, Ty McCartney, Ray Pugsley, Dorothy Tuddenham, Rich Bennett, Rawlins Young, Judi Short, Ruth Price, Sheila O’Driscoll, Philip Carlson, Su Armitage, Lynne Olson, Helen Peters, Gayen Wharton, Cheri Carleson, Tiffany Starbuck, Robert Marsh (17) Excused: Dolores Donohoo (1) City/State Representatives: Barry Esham, Mayor’s Office; Sgt. B. Kirkwood, Police Dept.; Linda Ward, Police Dept.; Kathy Daly, Sprague Library; Janice Jardine, City Council Office (new Sugar House Planner); Roger Thompson, City Council Dist. 5 (6) Others: Edward Glashien, Melissa Lichtenstein, Marv Tuddenham, Agnes Greenhall, lan Dennett, Garland Dennett, Suzie Dennett, C. T. Bintz, D. C. Bintz, Roger Black, Ginger Blumel-Wilson, Greg Wilson, Richard Cook, Kent Melson, Bob Marley, Spencer Harry, Richard Johnson, Adam McIntosh, Richard Johnson, Jonathan Ellis, J. R. Barton, Julie Clark, John Selfridge, Vaugn Snow, Tina Martinez, Michael Gibbons, Lora Mengucci, Tina Pech, Diane Taylor, Kimberly Lau, Susan Petheram, Scott Sweatfield, Claudia O’Grady, Marie Wood, Kevin Adams, (35) Total Attending – 58
Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM by Chair Ty McCartney. The minutes from the July meeting were approved. Boy Scouts Troop 539 was visiting the meeting. Chair Report: Ty reported that the Mayor has asked how the Sugar House community wants to be involved in the Olympic activities. There were no comments from those in attendance, but if anyone has any comments, contact Ty McCartney at 466-3558. Ty read a letter from the city asking that we call the graffiti hot line (972-7885) when we see graffiti. There is getting to be a lot more graffiti around again. They are also encouraging people to adopt-a-spot to keep the graffiti off Information on this program is available at the same number. Ty asked if there was anyone that had experience creating WEB sites as we are interested in creating a WEB site for Sugar House Community Council information. Kevin Adams volunteered to help. Melissa Lichtenstein also indicated that our new trustee, Trent Dunn may be able to help. Ty indicated that Police Officer Dunman who had recently been killed in the line of duty had worked for a time in the Sugar House area. A moment of silence was given in his honor. Public Input: Lynne Olson wondered if we wanted to submit any CDBG applications for this year. She wondered if we should do a small area master plan for the Westminster neighborhood specifically looking at the interface between the business and residential area and the traffic problems. Su Armitage asked anyone if they knew of a vacant building we could use for the rummage sale we are planning for sometime in Sept. or Oct. to raise money for the Sugar House Community Council. Cheri Carleson noted a public hearing regarding the Legacy Highway to be held on Aug. 23 at the Woods Cross High School. Anyone needing information on this could contactKAnderson@spk.usace.army.mil . or C. A. Carleson at 485-0525. Written comments regarding this issue are due by Sept. 14th. Kathy Daly of the Sprague Library indicated that new construction of the library addition are moving along nicely and it is anticipated we could .probably be back meeting at the library in late winter or early spring. A question was asked if there are any plans for any new development in Sugar House Park. There is a possibility of new soccer field facilities there but that is all that we are aware of Crime Update: Linda Ward reported on a sexual assault suspect that has been in the Sugar House area. A notice from the SLC Police Dept. regarding this issue was included in the mailing of our minutes and agenda. A possible suspect has been apprehended and no similar incidents have been reported since so it is hoped this issue has been resolved. Linda is working on getting the crime statistics for the Sugar House Community Council area instead of by City Council District. The police are working with Smith’s Food to resolve some of the problems that have been reported there. Melissa Lichtenstein asked about a problem with a house at 17 something on Lake Street. Linda said they are aware of a problem there and have been working on resolving it. Mayor’s Office Update: Barry Esham noted the next “Saturday Morning with the Mayor”, August 12 from 10 – 12 Noon at 1136 East 3rd Ave. There will also be a monthly news and community conference on Wed. Aug. 23 from 5:30 – 7:30PM at the Anderson-Foothill Library at 1135 So. 21st East. A question was asked about what could be done with furniture that has been dumped in public areas and abandoned. Barry suggested they call the Health Dept. at 313-6641. A question was asked about who to report properties that had weeds and Barry suggested calling Paula Miller at 535-6004. Helen Peters suggested that she would like to see the Mayor get involved in an effort to eliminate billboards in residential areas. Kathy Daly asked if there was a bicycle coordinator in the city that could possibly help in getting something better than just a bike rack in the Sugar House Commons area. A lot of the employees are riding bikes to work and would like to have something more than just a rack to lock their bike to. Kathy has seen other bike holders that are better and would like to see something like this in that area. It was reported that the street lights were out again in the Sugar House area. Barry said he would check on this. Planning Dept Update: Janice Jardine is going to be the new city planner for the Sugar House area, but will not officially begin in that position until the 14th of August. Janice has been working in the City Council office for the past 5 years but worked in the Planning Dept. for 13 years before that. She will pick up the work on the rewrite of the Sugar House Master Plan as soon as she begins her new position. We are pleased to have her working with us. Unit Legalization–1156 East Blaine Ave.: Garland and Jan Dennett own this property. They live upstairs with a 1 bedroom and a 2 bedroom apartment in the basement. These apartments have been used as rentals since 1936. The Dennetts have owned this property for 8 years. There is plenty of off street parking. They have all the necessary signatures except for one who lives out of state. The motion was made to recommend the legalization. The voting was 10 in favor, 2 opposed, and 4 abstaining.Unit Legalization -1347 East Hudson: Scott Sweatfield owns this property. This has a 1 bedroom rental unit in the basement and has been a rental since 1956. Scott has owned the property for 3 years. Su Armitage and Sheila O’Driscoll were concerned with stuff under the back porch and the condition of the back steps when they reviewed this property. There is plenty of room for off street parking, and there is a possibility that Scott will create another driveway on the other side of the house at some time in the future. Ray Pugsley was concerned with the parking since only one car can get in or out at a time and recommended building the other driveway as soon as possible. Rawlins was concerned with the whole unit legalization process saying that our goal should be more toward getting all the homes back to a single family dwelling. Gayen Wharton was also concerned with the legalization process. The motion was made that we recommend the legalization. The voting was 8 in favor, 6 opposed and 1 abstaining. Utah Foster Care Foundation Report: Tina Martinez Renteria and Mike Gibbons told us about their program to provide foster care for children. They said there are some 2500 children in state custody and only 1300 licensed care families. This foundation is working to train foster families and qualify them to provide foster care. The greatest demand is for homes for children ages 6 – 10 years of age. They are a private, non-profit organization and would welcome anyone interested in becoming a foster parent. For more information, call Tina at 994-5205 or contact the foundation at Email:tina@utahfostercare.org . Conditional Use Permit for Transitional Home for Single Mothers with Children – 1762 So. 9th East: Claudia O’Grady representing the Multi-Ethnic Development Corp. reported on the physical condition of the home and what is planned to do to upgrade it. This is a 6 bedroom home. It needs a new roof and a lot of work on the landscape. It needs a new fence, interior improvements and work on the garage. They estimate $50,000 to rehab the facility. Marie Wood representing Travelers Aid Society reported on the proposed use of the facility. The facility would be used as a transitional home for no more than 3 single parent homeless families. There would be a total of 3-4 children. There would be a staff person on site 24 hours a day (8 hour shifts) but they would not live in the home. The program would provide a very strict and structured program to prepare these single parents to move into the main stream with meaningful jobs to provide for themselves and their children. It is expected that a single parent would be ready to move into the main stream within an 18 month time period. Councilman Roger Thompson spoke in favor of this proposal. The goal of the City Council is to place one of these transitional homes in each council district. He realizes there are some other details that need to be worked out such as a text change in the zoning ordinance to allow this type of transitional housing in a residential zone, but feels that can be done. He is also suggesting that there be a time limit placed on the length of time the home would remain a transitional home and after that time it would be returned to a single family residence. The motion was made and seconded that we approve the concept of this request. There was much discussion following the motion. Virginia Blumel- Wilson, a neighbor felt that there had possibly been a Meth lab in this house and felt there was termite damage to the main beam of the home and suggested these things be checked out carefully. Kevin Adams spoke in favor of the program and encouraged us to consider that these are real people and we need to try and help instead of shut them out. Vaughn Snow was opposed to this in the neighborhood feeling there is already enough population in the area and this would only add to an already large population. Philip Carlson, a trustee, didn’t want to make a decision at this point. He pointed out advantages to this proposal based on the information that was included on the handout we were given detailing the plans for the home. He suggested we set up a sub-committee to consider this issue in more detail. Julie Clark, a neighbor, was concerned with so many rentals in the area. She felt a house on 9th East was not a safe place for children. She likes the concept, but just not are area. Philip Carlson made a motion and it was seconded to table the previous motion. The voting on this motion was 10 in favor, 4 opposed, and none abstaining. Persons interested in working with the sub-committee submitted their names and phone numbers for us to contact.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM
