Council Work Session Meeting

ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES:

• COVID: Indoor mask recommendations by the CDC and the SLCO Health Dept have been adjusted. SLCO is in the medium transmission range and we expect that mask requirements in city buildings will be soon lifted. Cases are continuing to decline. Vaccine rates are stagnant.

• HOMELESSNESS: Total HRC capacity is still around 98%. The Ramada Inn and St. Vincent’s are also full. The best access to resources is still 801-990-9999. The coalition is looking for a 200+ bed motel/hotel space for the Medically Vulnerable Population including age, medical conditions, recuperative care, and individuals with underlying health conditions or immunocompromisation. Rep. Eliason is running a large homelessness bill which is numbered HB 440. We are actively working with our lobbyist team to ensure that Salt Lake City’s interests are represented. We discussed this for a long time and the mayor and council members have serious concerns about the bill. It is moving quickly.

• LOVE YOUR BLOCK: This is an effort the Mayor’s office is working on. This is a grant-funded program with 2 Americorp Vistas and one fellow. Their goal is to improve the neighborhood around the Jordan River. They plan to distribute funds over the next two years to get resources into the community through a microgrant program. If you have ideas about how to improve the neighborhood around the river please stay tuned.

• POLICING: Today’s topic was on the use of force summary released last week. Force was used in .57% of calls. The full report is available on the SLPD website.

• WATER: Public Utilities Director Laura Briefer gave us an update on our drought and water conditions. We are still in a severe and extreme drought. 97% of the state is in a severe drought. It is better than it was this time last year but we are very much still in a critical period. Soil moisture has increased so we think the runoff will be better than last year. Salt Lake City is in stage 2 of our 5-stage drought contingency plan which includes voluntary action for residents and private property owners but mandatory conservation in city facilities and parks.

EQUITY UPDATE: No update today.

ASSESSMENT FOR THE CENTRAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA: For many years properties in the downtown central business district have been paying an additional property tax to fund downtown business development programs as well as holiday lighting. This has been in place since 1990 and must be reauthorized every 3 years. There is a process for a property owner to petition for an adjustment or change to the assessment and we learned about the results of that process today. We are set to receive public comment and possibly have an official vote tonight.

NOTICE FOR PERMITS TO WORK IN THE PUBLIC WAY: We have been working on this for a long time. Today’s discussion was intended to address and provide direction on several of the comments made at our February 1st public hearing. The council straw polled to decide in favor of residents receiving more notice rather than less in all cases.

SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS OF LESS THAN 31 DAYS: The reason this was initiated was to allow longer-running special events to take place on public lands or in our parks, etc. I believe there is a rock climbing event hoping to use Pioneer Park for several weeks which, under current code, would be considered a sale or long-term lease of public property, thus subject to greater restrictions.

RENAME HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT DIVISION (HAND) TO HOUSING STABILITY DIVISION: Skipped due to time.

REZONE AT APPROXIMATELY 2333 WEST NORTH TEMPLE STREET: This ordinance will remove the Airport Inn property from the airport flight overlay zone allowing it to be used as permanent, deeply affordable housing. This conversation was interesting and a lot of concerns were raised including the effects on the neighborhood businesses, the process of this request, and I raised the concern of the health and wellness of the occupants.

STREET VACATION AT 601 SOUTH 900 EAST: This is a slightly off request. The property owner is asking for us to vacate publicly owned land that has been fenced for private use. There is typically a strip of land that is public between a property line and the sidewalk. There are situations where the city will lease this property to the adjacent owner which to me feels like a better scenario than selling the property permanently.

20 MPH DEFAULT SPEED LIMIT ON CITY STREETS: This discussion was something that I asked to have added to our agenda. I have had a “20 is Plenty” sign in my yard for months and have been supportive of this idea. The goal is to reduce the default speed limit to 20 mph rather than 25. This has been shown to create safety, particularly for pedestrians. I’m so excited that the council unanimously supported this idea and directed our staff to move forward with work on it.

STATE LEGISLATIVE BRIEFING: The major point of discussion today was HB440 which is related to homelessness. There are several pieces of the legislation that the city is concerned about such as preemption of local land use control, limitations on mitigation funding, and removing the cap of occupants on the current homeless resource centers (flex). The bill also targets Salt Lake City specifically for several of the provisions we are concerned about. The other bill we have been tracking closely this year is regarding the Inland Port.

BOARD APPOINTMENTS: We met with the following citizens who are interested in serving the city on boards and commissions: Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board – Katie Darter, Business Advisory Board – Kristina Olivas, Airport Board – John Bradshaw, Library Board – Sarah Reale. If you are interested in serving the city please check the website: https://www.slc.gov/boards/

Formal Meeting

PRESENTATION:

• MAYOR’S PRESENTATION OF HUD GRANT FUNDING: This is our only annual stream of funding that comes directly from the federal government to cities. We have the opportunity and difficult job of choosing which projects and which non-profit partners will receive funding this year. The selection process is that a citizen board gives recommendations to the mayor who then forwards her recommendations to us (tonight). And finally we the City Council make the final decision. In total, we have about $5.6M of funding to allocate this year plus about $1.2M of reallocated funding that was unspent from previous years.

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

• ART BARN PUBLIC BENEFITS ANALYSIS: No Comments. We closed the public hearing and adopted that unanimously tonight.

• BUDGET AMENDMENT NO. 6: This was another public hearing on BAM 6. No comments were heard on this tonight. We first adopted the majority of the list with about 4 items left off. Then we individually considered 2 additional items. First, in regard to funding for the fireworks show for this year, I made a motion to fund the fireworks show and Councilmember Wharton made a second. It was a point of much disagreement because of air quality issues and other concerns about fireworks. I hear those concerns but personally feel the need to celebrate the 4th of July with my community. This motion failed 4-3 with myself, CM Wharton, and CM Dugan voting to support the fireworks and the others voting against it. The final item was the arts council’s increase in staffing for 3 new full-time employees. This item passed 6-1 with CM Fowler voting no.

• CDBG/HUD GRANTS: No comments but we will have another public hearing at a future meeting after we and the public have time to digest what was presented today.

GENERAL COMMENTS: A handful of general comments were heard tonight. The topics tonight included: the Central Business District Special Assessment, development agreements, Train Quiet Zones along 1300 West, and Poplar Grove public safety issues.

ACTION ITEMS:

• REZONE AND MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT FOR THE FORMER FIRE STATION NO.3: Passed unanimously

• REZONE AT 1193 WEST CALIFORNIA AVENUE: Adopted unanimously

• REZONE AT 2060 NORTH 2200 WEST: Passed unanimously

• ASSESSMENT FOR THE CENTRAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA: This passed unanimously without exemption from the appealing property owner.