SHCC Meeting Minutes – June 2007

Trustees present

Sarah Carlson, Andrea Moesser, Dave Mulder, David Holbrook, Cabot Nelson, Ray Pugsley, Art Haddow, Grace Sperry, Emil Kmet, Andrea Wargula, Rawlins Young, Derek Payne, Russ Callister, Barbara Green, Steve Wilson, Phil Carlson (16)

Trustees excused

Judy Short (1)

City/State representatives

Michael Stott, SLC Mayor’s Office; Fred Ross, SLPD; Soren Simonsen, SLC Council; Maria Vyas, UTA (4)

Others

Barb Shelly, Jan Brittain, Andrew Mitchell, Linda Petersen, Wendy Thompson, Renae Richards, Ty McCartney, Robert Cheney, Joyce Cheney, Wayne Ricks, Melissa Lichtenstein, Jana Johnson, Debbie Mayo (13)

Meeting minutes

Call to order, 7:02pm. Art Haddow, 1st vice chair, chaired the meeting. Ray Pugsley moved to approve last month’s minutes with Dave Mulder seconding. They passed on a unanimous voice vote.

There were two new petitions for trustees. Renae Richards of the Highland Park neighborhood submitted her petition. Grace Sperry moved to accept her petition by acclamation, with Dave seconding. No objection. The second petition was from Janice Brittain of the Country Club neighborhood to replace Scott Kisling. Grace suggested to postpone accepting this petition until next month.

Treasurer’s report

No treasurer’s report. Dolores is out.

Crime update

By Officer Fred Ross, SLPD. There was a recent news announcement that Salt Lake crime is up 15%. He noted that we’re early in the reporting year. Two of the four reported rapes or sex assault were not. Other incidents will be corrected down. Chief Burbank will ensure that. SH had no increase in crime, but there has been a lot of transient activity.

For community awareness, don’t flush medicines. They affect water system.

Next month, Lt. Melody Gray will present the crime update. The upcoming bond is a hot topic.

Other pamphlets are available from what was given at Merchants Association. Be cautious as things are being boarded up. Grace likes the new crime-mapping system.

Sugar House Transit corridor

By Maria Vyas. UTA has been evaluating different alternatives. The process is to look at purpose and need, alternatives development, alternatives assessment, local preference, etc. Mainly, they ask “does it fit in area, and is it proven?”. This affects UTA’s right-of-way (ROW) or 2100 S. The modes are: diesel multiple units, light rail (could we imagine widening 21 or taking a lane?), vintage trolley (several steps for accessibility), group rapid transit (no driver, it wouldn’t work in ROW or 21st), street car, bus rapid transit (in the ROW), and ticket at station for bus service upgrades. Some criteria is that it had to be relatively slow and pedestrian friendly.
They will have a Public Open House at the Sprague Library on July 12 at 7 pm. The various stakeholders are SHCC, Salt Lake City Council, South Salt Lake Council, SugarHouse Trolley Association, and various community councils of South Salt Lake City.

Merchant’s Association Update

By Barbara Green. There is a new business: Mark and Elizabeth England and their “Gelatos” business on 1100 East, south of old Salt Lake Costume. Elizabeth was a partner in Luna’s Italian Ice. There was also a discussion about the UTA right-of-way. For the construction and boarding up of the Highland businesses, the construction plans have someone to paint on the plywood. Pat Sanders and Amy McDonald Sanyer of Brolly arts are preparing the Hidden Hollow art project.

Ed Butterfield will let people know what’s going on in SH. Most of the displaced businesses are finding places to go.

Regarding SHCC participation in the 4th of July with a booth, we don’t know. It hasn’t been discussed.

Valley Journals is back to cover the SHCC. Editor Linda Petersen was in attendance. Emil Kmet mention that there was coverage in their paper, but it didn’t stay. What happened? Ms. Petersen used to have paper cover the SHCC, but there were other issues.

Business spotlight

This topic was about the displaced businesses due to the construction. Barbara Green said that Andy of Orion’s Music sold his business just this week. Pibs Exchange is now across liquor store. Ten-Thousand Villages is moving to Aaron Dahl’s Cabinetry, which is moving to the old Salt Lake Costume. Rockwood Studios is staying.

Dave Mulder expressed his concern about boarding up the buildings. In two months, it’ll be graffitied. Barbara said that they are working with artists to create some murals, which should discourage graffiti. All of the businesses will be out by the middle of august. Officer Ross said that Mr. Mecham has assured “no graffiti” will be tolerated.

Grace Sperry suggested “Sugar House Rising” as a PR tagline. Rawlins Young asked when the demolition will take place and whether there’ll be chain link fence.

City Council Update

By Soren Simonsen. The big thing is the city budget. Over $200 million in revenue. Highlights include 7% in Capital Improvement Plan budget. Councilman Simonsen favors 9%. This year, about 7.5%. One percent is for energy, sustainable capital improvements. $2 million for the Mayor’s office, but $500K from council. Last night’s straw poll favored $800 to $1000 for a management plan for Parley’s Historic Park. About Fairmont Park, the tennis courts are essentially abandoned. It may be taken up with CIP and allocation. Mr. Simonsen supports updating the master plan.

There are 5 new planning staff positions with one as an administrative planner. This will alleviate the work on specific projects. There will be a historic preservation planner, including for the infill ordinance. The Arts Council is getting $75,000. The downtown redevelopment is taking a lot of time. Mr. Simonsen acknowledged his only vote against the proposed skybridge.

The Sugar House redevelopment is hotly monitored. There is a task force. Many are very concerned about the conflict in the plans and the zoning. Regarding the foothill corridor, there are discussions about WalMart and taking KMart, requiring a rezone for a larger building.

There is a bond proposed for a new public administration building. The building is currently in poor repair. The city proposed a new east-side police precinct and a new Sugar House fire station, as the current one is inadequate, esp. with new buildings under development. The Garfield School is not an appropriate location.

Dave Mulder asked about the newspaper coverage for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games logo. There was $700K given to the city, divided evenly in seven council districts. Nancy Saxton of district 4 would be in the library block, south of fountain and east of old library, consisting of 5 shading devices. For 2 weeks in February, it’ll project the Olympic rings because of the position of the sun.

A audience member asked about the Garfield property. There are no long-t e r m plans. The building is being used for some training. There is lead paint.

Parks Committee

By Grace Sperry. County parks and stakeholders are participating in a task force. They studied all the places where there could be dog parks. Along with Logan-Simpson design, Inc., they suggested places for regional dog parks, some in 50 miles, 10 miles, and 5 miles. The committee met 2-3 times.

Grace Sperry made this motion: The SHCC trustees request that the SLC Council should immediately end the use of Parley’s HNP for off-leash dogs in accordance with the council’s one-year trial period that ended in Nov, 2006. Dave Mulder seconded.

Comments from Emil regarding the subcommittee on the park. Dave and Grace discussed when the special committee was formed. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Grace made this second motion: The SHCC trustees support the SLC Council’s funding a parley’s HNP master plan as recommended in the SH master plan adopted in November 2001. Emil Kmet seconded. It passed on a voice vote.

Emil has been working on a skate park. Andrew Mitchell provided an update: He submitted an application with the petition, even signed skateboards. It is 13th of 57 projects. The mayor supports it and it has received press reports. Soren Simonsen said there is a policy against lighting in our parks and he has asked for a policy change.

Regarding the Jordan & SLC Canal, the water is owned by Parley’s Creek Water Users Association.

Remarks for the good of the order

Renae of the library is retiring on June 30th. Grace said that we should have a letter for her. A motion to write a thank-you letter passed unanimously.

Land Use & Zoning Committee

See handout. Ty McCartney is building a PUD project on 2442 South 900 East. There was also discussion about the Westminster College alumni house. See the forms on the city’s web site. Phil Carlson was glad to see the forms.

Andrea Wargula announced that the Sugarmill Condos are nixed. There will be an office building to fit the zoning.

Parley’s Foothill Development

There was 133,000 square feet for Kmart. WalMart will add an additional 40,000 sq. ft. It’ll generate $1.6 million in groceries. It is part of the East Bench Community Council. Traffic generated is 30- to 35,000 cars. Corridor studies are started. KMart is planning on staying until Nov 2008, possibly to Jan 2009.

Dave Mulder asked if the KMart footprint also includes pads to the east. Rawlins Young said the basic issue is that WalMart wants to rezone. Under current zoning, KMart could not be rebuilt as the zoning only allows 35,000 sq ft. The zoning changed after KMart was built. It was changed to appease the neighbors after KMart was there.

Planned Unit Development Rezone – 2442 S. 900 East

Owner Ty McCartney has this property across from Neptune divers. There was a duplex, but it burned down, then in 2000 it was torn down. The proposal is for three townhomes to face 9th East. Mr. Soren Simonsen, the architect, (coincidentally, also city councilman) felt that it would be best to put the garages to the back. There would be 1900 sq. ft. units.

Rawlins Young said that others in the neighborhood thought it would be a good place to rebuild a single family house. There isn’t a lot of support for this from the community. Mr. Simonsen said that it is zoned RMF-30. The land is too valuable for just single-family houses. Andrea asked what kinds of projects are nearby for green space. There are parks, etc. nearby. Ray Pugsley supports it. It’s a good addition to the area. It’ll work and help the area. Cabot Nelson said all is well except the architecture. It looks like a packing crate.

Art Haddow asked if there would be room to turn a car around. Yes. The garages have 26 ft. deep for extra space. The unit will sell for $299K and up. Sarah Carlson said the flat walls with flat windows are not very attractive. She was concerned about neighbors input. Steve Wilson is also concerned with neighbors’ input.

Chair Phil Carlson had a quick straw poll. All those feeling supportive? 10. All those feeling like this is not supportive of the area? 1.

Mayor’s office

By Michael Stott of Community Affairs. There is a new neighbor partnership resource guide. It contains the regular resource guide and a community resource guide.

For the calendar of events:

• This Friday, Friday night flicks in city parks. 80s movies (Ghostbuster, Back to the Future)
• Pioneer Park on Saturday: Farmers Market
• Jordan Park on Sunday: Peoples Market
• Wednesday at the Gallivan Center, concerts
• Starting Thursday, July 5th, the Twilight concerts.
• Friday night concerts at Pioneer Park
• Lunch Bunch every weekday at the Gallivan Center.

Every three weeks at City-Council, there has been festivals: Pride (last weekend), On July 21st is the Arts Festival, on July 6th-8th is the Jazz Festival. Mr. Stott has “12 Great Moments in SLC Jazz Fest” CDs.

From last month, questions about noxious weeds. Stephanie Duer with Public Utilities is very knowledgeable, also regarding drought tolerant plants. Call 483-6860. Grace Sperry said that in the parking strip, there was a trend was to put cobble rocks. That was banned. Now with xeriscaping, many are returning to stones, etc. Steve Wilson asked about the height being 18″ for vegetation. It does not apply to trees. He’ll research on rocks in the park strip. Steve Wilson is a member of an official Sugar House cycling club. They race around SH park around 8am. 4 different categories of racers. The Sugar House cyclist will be in green.

Chair report

Mark Holland has resigned from the board of trustees. Phil Carlson asked about his own petition. Scott Kisling’s petition has expired. Art Haddow moved to accept Janice Brittain as a new trustee. Dave Mulder seconded. Passed without objection.

Adjourn

Adjourned, 9:49.