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The Council adopted zoning changes and a street vacation related to the construction of the new West High School.  

Text Amendment

The text amendment (zoning changes) aims to make the temporary zoning standards adopted by the Council in February permanent. These standards were created under a Temporary Land Use Regulation (TLUR) to update zoning rules for K-12 public school development in the Public Lands (PL) District. A TLUR allows activities that don’t meet the permanent zoning rules for a specific time. The changes include: 

• Increasing the maximum building height to 125 feet for public schools 
• Decreasing setbacks when next to any zoning district that isn’t residential 
  • Setbacks are the minimum distances a building or structure must be from property lines, streets, or other designated boundaries. 
  • Side-yard – 30 ft (previously 50 ft) 
  • Rear-yard – 50 ft (previously 100 ft) 
• Introducing allowed obstructions in required yards 
• Exempting K-12 public schools from historic preservation overlay district provisions 

Please note: These standards and changes don’t apply to charter schools, colleges, or universities.

Street Vacation

The street vacation involves a 1.3-acre section of 200 N between 200 and 300 W, currently part of the school’s athletic fields under a 1987 lease agreement. This right-of-way transfer to the school district allow sthe ongoing use of the property for public school purposes.

As shown on the map, the street vacation does not include the existing constructed section of 200 N near 200 W. This section and access to the surrounding properties won’t be affected.

Background

In November 2024, voters approved a $730 million general obligation bond to rebuild two high schools, West High and Highland High, among other school district upgrades. Since existing PL zoning standards created obstacles to the planned upgrades, the Council adopted a TLUR on Feb. 18, 2025. This aimed to help remove these obstacles and avoid delays to the design and construction schedule. The TLUR was in effect for 180 days, allowing the City to go through the formal process to make the zoning changes permanent. View the TLUR and associated meeting materials.

Planning Commission Recommendations

On July 9, the Planning Commission forwarded a positive recommendation for the street vacation and a negative recommendation for the text amendment to the City Council. Commissioners raised concerns about uncertainties around height limits, setbacks, and neighborhood effects. For more information, access the meeting materials or watch the meeting.

Meeting Recaps

Aug. 19 Council Briefing

The Council received a briefing on the proposal and shared concerns from neighbors. The School District also presented the most recent site design, and Council Members discussed potential neighborhood impacts and improvements to help increase student and pedestrian safety around the school. Read the staff report or watch the briefing for more information.

Sept. 2 Public Hearing

The Council held a public hearing on the proposals and heard from four residents. They expressed concerns that the proposed design for the new school is not consistent with City plans and about the impact to the historic neighborhoods along 200 West and 200 North due to increased vehicle traffic accessing the new parking. Others said the preservation of the historic West High should have been more important for the school district. Some encouraged the Council to vote against the street vacation hoping this would prevent the construction from going forward.

Council Members recommended the community members continue reaching out to the School District with their concerns about the design for the new high school and mentioned an open house on September 9. Watch the hearing. 

Sept. 9 Potential Council Vote

The Council postponed voting on the proposals to a future Council meeting. Watch the decision. 

Read the Staff Report.

Nov. 18 Council Vote

The Council adopted the proposals during the Nov. 18 formal meeting. Watch the vote.

Read the staff report or view the motion sheet for details.

Following the vote, Council Member Wharton shared the following remarks:

I really appreciate the additional time that everybody has given to let us address some of the neighborhood concerns with this proposal. It has given us a lot of time to talk with the District to address those concerns. I know that there are more frustrations that neighbors have and that many neighbors wish we could secure more commitments from the District.

But I want to highlight that, through this process and through those conversations, we have been able to secure some commitments from the District that I think will meaningfully improve this project and help with the neighborhood, including:

• Requesting approval from UDOT to add a one-way exit onto 300 West at the south end of the property. If approved, this would help reduce traffic on 200 West, which we’ve invested a lot of money in calming, by allowing students and staff to exit directly onto 300 West after school.
• Limiting the northern portion of the parking lot behind the school to faculty and staff only.
• Installing a gate to block access to the parking areas during Delta Center events and other major events in the neighborhood, which will also help with traffic during evenings and weekends.
• Planting additional mature trees (two to three years old) along the property line adjacent to residential homes to create a buffer between the school and the neighborhood.
• Hiring a demographics team to produce updated district enrollment projections.

Again, I know that these measures don’t cover all of the concerns raised by the community, but I do believe they demonstrate a good-faith effort to try to resolve as many as we can at this point in the process. I appreciate that opportunity, and based on those good-faith efforts, I am voting in favor of this. However, that vote comes with a commitment to continue representing the neighborhood concerns throughout the construction process and throughout the first years of operation in the new building.

West High School Initial Design Rendering 

Please visit the School District’s website for more information on the project and upcoming open houses. 

Resources

• Read the Administrative Transmittal
• Visit the Planning Division’s project page 
• View the school district’s Bond Updates & Construction Projects page 
• Share comments with the Salt Lake City School Board
• Get details on the current PL District zoning standards
• Learn about land use and zoning in Salt Lake City