Below is my recap of our meetings from today, November 16, 2021. Tonight we convened wearing 3 distinct hats: City Council, Local Building Authority, and the Board of Canvassers.

Council Work Session Meeting

ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES:

• COVID: 26 of 29 counties in Very High transmission rate. Statewide 7-Day average is just under 1,600. Salt Lake City vaccination rates are not increasing very quickly. City wide we are at 64%, the state is at about 54% overall. There are a lot of free vaccine clinics. Please get vaccinated as soon as possible to help us stop the spread of Covid-19.
• HOMELESSNESS: Shelter capacity is holding steady at nearly 100%. St. Vincent’s Overflow has a 50-something bed capacity and has been full. There are a few state funding sources to address homelessness which have been recommended. This is not enough but it is more than we have received in the past which is positive. Today’s update included a discussion on shelter beds vs. deeply affordable housing. Whereas there is a need for about 1700 shelter beds, there is a need for 7108 deeply affordable units. This is the primary need and the only true way to end homelessness. Though our needs are great, the mayor indicated that it is absolutely achievable and that our needs are not nearly as great as other cities in the nation.

UPDATES ON RACIAL EQUITY AND POLICING: Kaletta Lynch and Moana Uluave-Hafoke from the Mayor’s office joined us. The chair for the REP commission will be Commissioner Salazar-Hall and the vice chair will be Commissioner Hawkins. They have split into 4 sub-committees and are looking to fill a few vacancies. We also met Ashley Lichtle who will be the city’s new ADA coordinator.

SIGNIFICANT WATER CONSUMING LAND USE RESTRICTIONS: This zoning amendment would limit businesses who might use large amounts of water. The limitation would be 300,000 gallons per day as a maximum allowable water use in the city. Some examples of this might be food processing, bottling plants, chemical production, data centers, etc. The 300k limit aligns with SLC Public Utilities’ long term projections. The planning department suggested that this limit is a good balance between conservation and economic development. Of note is that this would not be applicable to the Northwest Quadrant or the U of U. I think there is a general consensus that this is imperfect and insufficient on its own. However, it is better than what we have now so I am supportive of this ordinance now while we look to develop more and more stringent regulations, incentives, ordinances, etc.

REZONE AT REDWOOD ROAD AND INDIANA AVENUE: Bumped to a future meeting.

ROOFTOP COMMERCIAL USES IN THE FB-SE (FORM BASED SPECIAL PURPOSE) ZONES: The FB-SE zones are mostly around 700 East and 2100 South. Currently this zone only allows commercial uses on the first two floors. This would allow commercial uses to happen on the roof above the second floor subject to the overall building being below the current 30’ commercial use height restriction. Residential uses are allowed on the third floor or higher and will still be allowed if this passes. The impetus for this is a particular landowner at 2166 S 900 East who would like to bring in a restaurant and would like to allow dining on the rooftop.

REZONE AND MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT AT PROPERTIES NEAR 100 SOUTH AND 700 EAST: This is a rezone for several properties around Bueno Avenue which is a mid-block, dead-end street between 100/200 South and 700/800 East. The surrounding parcels are RMF-45 and there are 7 parcels which are currently zoned SR-3. These 7 parcels would be combined with some other surrounding properties already zoned RMF-45 and would become a larger residential project geared toward students which is technically classified as a “rooming house.” This would be apartments up to 4-bedroom which would be rented out room by room instead of the entire apartment unit.

ALLEY VACATION AT 1200 EAST AND KENSINGTON / BRYAN AVENUES: Bumped to a future meeting.

ALLEY VACATION NEAR 590 NORTH AND VICTORY ROAD: Bumped to a future meeting.

FY 21-22 BUDGET AMENDMENT NO. 4: We continued our discussion of the ARPA funds and Budget Amendment No. 4. There are a lot of items in this BAM and I want to give my constituents some idea of where I am at with the APRA funding. All the things that the Mayor has proposed are great, but I am disappointed that there isn’t any funding for permanent supportive housing. In order to find funding for that, the pieces I’m looking at are the funding for the overflow shelter (I do not think this should be the city’s responsibility and we need as much money as possible to mitigate the issues west side residents and businesses may experience), the early education funding (great idea, I want to support it, will support the phase 2 study, but if that study doesn’t answer my questions and the community’s questions I will advocate for this money to go to housing), and the grants to non-profits (again, clearly important but just trying to weigh that against the need for deeply affordable housing).

HEALTH CARE INNOVATION BLUEPRINT: Bumped to a future meeting.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BOND FOLLOW-UP: Bumped to a future meeting.

BOARD APPOINTMENT: Tonight we met Angela Dean and appointed them to the Art Design Advisory Board. I know Angela from the architecture community and am excited for their continued service to our city and our community.

TEMPORARY ZONING REGULATION FOR AN OVERFLOW HOMELESS SHELTER AT 1659 W. NORTH TEMPLE: This is the discussion for overflow shelter for this coming winter. The proposed site the council is being asked to consider is the Ramada Inn on North Temple and 1659 West. We discussed the need which is clear, the legal framework by which we can issue temporary zoning regulations, and some conditions that we considered as requirements for approval. Though I agree with everyone that Salt Lake City has been bearing the burden of this for the entire state and there is a severe need for other cities to help, I also see this as a humanitarian issue. Not passing this is accepting that people will freeze on our street this winter and I don’t feel comfortable with that decision. Some of the specific conditions we discussed include a staff to client ratio of 1:25, a maximum occupancy of 250 except when there is extreme weather, etc.

Formal Meeting

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

• FY 21-22 LBA BUDGET AMENDMENT NO. 1: This is a “refinancing” of bonds for the Glendale and Marmalade libraries to receive a lower interest rate. We heard 1 comment which was generally supportive. We closed the public hearing and referred this to a future date for action.
• GRANT APPLICATION FOR SLCPD: No comments. Closed and deferred to a consent agenda.
• REZONE AT 1945 S. 1300 EAST: This proposal amends zoning along 1300 East (north of KFC) from RMF-35 to RMF-45. We heard about 6 comments and they were generally opposed to the rezone. We closed the public hearing and deferred action.
• FY 21-22 BUDGET AMENDMENT NO. 4: See my comments above on this. We heard one comment with varied points. We adopted some of the items in the budget amendment (none of the ones I discussed above).
• GENERAL COMMENTS: We heard from a handful of people tonight and the spoke to the following items: Community Fridges or “Freedges”, Short Term Rental Enforcement, affordable housing, and the majority were speaking to the temporary homeless overflow shelter on North Temple.

ACTION ITEMS:

• WORLD AIDS DAY RESOLUTION: (I haven’t been recapping our ceremonial resolutions but I’m going to start doing so) This ceremonial resolution officially recognizes December 1st, 2021 as World AIDS Day. We were joined by Jared Hafen from the Utah AIDS Foundation who accepted the resolution and spoke to its significance.
• TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBERANCE RESOLUTION: This ceremonial resolution recognizes November 20th, 2021 as Transgender Day or Remembrance. This is a day to remember members of our community who are transgender and have have been murdered at a disproportionately high rate. We were joined by representatives from Transgender Education Advocates of Utah, the Utah Pride Center, and the LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce.
• UNIVERSITY IVORY HOUSE ZONING AMENDMENT: Adopted Unanimously
• TECHNOLOGY RELATED LAND USE AMENDMENTS: Adopted Unanimously
• TEMPORARY ZONING REGULATION FOR AN OVERFLOW HOMELESS SHELTER AT 1659 W. NORTH TEMPLE: This temporary land use regulation passed 5-2. I hate that we are in this situation again. I hate that we are the only city in Utah with the backbone and heart to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness. I hate that we are being forced to make this decision at the 11th hour for 3 years in a row. I hate that it is located on the west side, again. I hate that we keep concentrating services in neighborhoods that are already hard hit. And I hate that we also expect to be asked to pay for the operations of this shelter. If this were a permanent shelter I would have voted no. If I believed that there were any other options that would happen in time I would have voted no. And, if the alternative didn’t mean that human beings would be denied a warm place to sleep this week, I would have voted no. But a no vote would not align with my values of supporting the most vulnerable and marginalized residents of our community. So because of this I voted yes.
• CENTRAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT DESIGNATION: Adopted Unanimously
• MASTER LEASE AGREEMENT WITH JP MORGAN CHASE BANK: Adopted Unanimously
• CANVASS OF THE SALT LAKE CITY MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION 2021: This is the official canvass or acceptance of the results of the recent municipal election. Our total voter turnout was 34.77% this year. I’m proud to say that District 5 had the highest voter turnout of all districts in the city at 37.94%. And of course I am honored that my constituents have trusted me to serve a full term on the City Council. I will work hard to represent my district and Salt Lake City and make the best possible decisions for our community.