Council Formal Meeting

0:00We do have two council members that are joining us online. So for any lawyers or parliamentarians in the audience, we do have a quorum present. So we'll go ahead and get started.

0:15Welcome to today's meeting. We're happy to have you here, whether you're joining us in person or online. We hope you'll continue to participate in whatever manner you feel most comfortable. We are going to start with the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join me. I really do. Okay. Thank you again for everybody that is here with us tonight.

0:58But before we move through the agenda, I just want to go through some registration information and our rules of decorum.

1:07Just to explain a little bit about the reasoning about why we have these rules as well. So we welcome everyone, regardless of your opinion or side on an issue, because we have people with varying opinions on important issues, the council's goal is to make sure the meetings are a place where everyone feels comfortable participating.

1:26This is the most local level of government and it is a key value of ours to ensure that we have created a respectful and safe environment so that no one's intimidated out of participating. This also allows us to ensure the meeting can continue and we can conduct the scheduled city business. We invite each of you to contribute to this space to speak your mind and to welcome others to do the same.

1:49In order to create this welcoming and safe space, pause the meeting at any time an action becomes disruptive or inhibits our ability to conduct the meeting. We will also stop for any safety concerns that involve threats or unprotected speech. If there are repeated actions or comments it may result in removal from the meeting.

2:11We will not be giving multiple warnings about the following rules. To avoid intimidating others, please avoid the use of threatening and discriminatory language. Do not insult others based on religion, ethnicity, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability.

2:27And whether or not you disagree with someone's comment, clapping, cheering, shouting, booing, snapping, gesturing or obstructing or discouraging others from commenting is not allowed. As council members, we refrain from reacting or responding to allow everyone to share their opinions freely. This is to keep our reactions from affecting your ability or willingness to share your opinion freely.

2:51If you would like to follow up with any of us, please see council staff or the Zoom chat for contact information.

3:00When making your comments, please address the body and not individual elected officials. If you have a handout for the council, please raise your hand and council staff will assist you. Council staff are available during and after the meeting to help with any questions or information sharing. The full meeting rules are listed at the door and our staff will post a link to those in the Zoom as well.

3:24As a reminder of our public comment registration process, individuals may register to comment on scheduled public hearing items up until the hearing is closed. For the general comment section, we will accept signups until 730 PM. The general comment section is limited to a maximum of one hour and will only include commenters who register before 730.

3:47So if you're here to give general comments, please make sure and sign up before that time. It is possible that not everyone will get to speak at general comment. This brings us to item A4, which is, wait a minute.

4:07Yes, sorry.

4:09Item A4 is that the council will approve the work session meeting minutes of September 9th, 2025, September 16th, 2025, October 7th, 2025, and October 14th, 2025, as well as the formal meeting minutes of August 19th, 2025, October 7th, 2025, October 21st, 2025, and December 9th, 2025. I will look for a motion. So moved.

4:34Second. I have a motion from council member Dugan and a second from council member Yang. Is there any discussion to this? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and vote, all in favor. Aye. Aye. Any opposed?

4:47I'm an aye.

4:49You're an aye. Yes. Okay. Then that passes unanimously with one council member absent.

4:59That brings us to item A5, which is, the council will consider adopting a joint ceremonial resolution with Mayor Mendenhall recognizing March as National Women's History Month's Salt Lake City. I will turn the time over to council member Dugan to read the resolution. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Joint resolution recognizing Women's History Month, whereas Women's History Month celebrated annually in March honors his contributions and achievements of women throughout history and a contemporary society.

5:29And whereas Salt Lake City acknowledges the invaluable role that women have played in shaping the cultural, economic and social fabric of our community, contributing to its growth, diversity and resilience. And whereas Salt Lake City recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality to ensure a more just and equitable society for all.

5:49And whereas the theme of Women's History Month 2026, leading the change, women's shaping a sustainable future seeks to encourage a long-term vision for our future where women's leadership is central to thriving communities and a healthy planet. And whereas Women's History Month serves as a celebration of the progress made under advancing women's rights and a reminder of the ongoing work needed to build a more inclusive future.

6:16And whereas the League of Women Voters of Utah has been a vital part of Women's Political Power for over 100 years, serving as a nonpartisan grassroots organization that works to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy by empowering voters and defending democracy through advocacy, education and litigation at the local, state and national levels.

6:42And whereas Salt Lake City is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where women are valued, respected and given equal opportunity to thrive. Now, therefore, it would be resolved that the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor of Salt Lake City hereby honor and recognize Women's History Month 2026 encourage all residents to participate in activities and events that celebrate their achievement and contributions of women in the Salt Lake City and beyond.

7:07And be it further resolved that Salt Lake City reaffirms its dedication to advancing gender equality and promoting the empowerment of women and girls in all aspects of life, pledging to continue working toward a more inclusive and equitable society for future generations. Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Council Member Dugan.

7:29I'll entertain a motion. I move that we adopt the resolution, the joint resolution with the mayor, recognizing Women's History Month for March. Second. I have a motion from Council Member Dugan and a second from Council Member Young. Is there any discussion to this? Anyone online want to say anything? Okay, we'll go ahead and vote.

7:55All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, that passes unanimously with, do we have Council Member, who do we have? All of them? I'm here, Mr. Chair. Okay, got you. I think I hear Council Member Pietro. Director Wends here. Okay. E5 is here. Erika's here. Okay. So with Council Member Lopez-Shava's absent. Okay, thank you.

8:25All right, we will now go to item A6. Kevin. Oh, nope, nope, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. First, we will welcome the League of Women Voters to accept the resolution. Take a photo with us. So if you would like to come and say a few words, you can do that here at the podium. Thank you so much. As League of Women Voters, we will continue to fight for women's rights in Utah and the nation.

8:58And that means the Equal Rights Amendment, which we actually believe is the law of the land now. But let me just say that we will also fight for all of the rights of our voters. And we are continuing to do that now. Just know you should all have a voice in your elections. You do, and thank you very much. Thank you, Catherine.

9:22If you come join us up here, we'd love to get a picture with you. Good to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Now we will move on to item A6. Mayor Mendenhall will present recommendations to the City Council on the uses of federal housing and community grants for the coming year. These include funds for community development block grants or CDBG, Emergency Shelter Grants or ESG, the Home Investment Partnerships Program or home, and the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS or HOPLA.

10:58Mayor Mendenhall, the time is yours. Thank you, Council Chair. Thank you, Council and Council staff. This is now my seventh year as mayor presenting my recommendations for the City's annual HUD Community Development Grants. And may I just say in the year 2026, I'm so grateful that we still have CDBG dollars coming in.

11:19I also remember this annual process as a former City Council person. I am really proud of our City for supporting our residents and our service providers through a range of amazing and valuable activities and programs, some of which couldn't happen without these precious dollars. This year, I'm excited to also present the City's annual funding our future housing opportunity or FOF because we like acronyms awards.

11:47This will be the first year of this FOF process accompanying the HUD allocation grants. The City's annual HUD and FOF allocations are an opportunity for us to provide direct services to our City's residents who are principally low to moderate income, vulnerable, and often historically underserved populations and neighborhoods.

12:12The HUD funding that the City will receive this upcoming fiscal year, FY2027, includes the regular CDBG, ESG, home, and HOP grants, as you mentioned, Council. Federal increases in funding that support the preservation and creation of affordable housing and increases in more equitable opportunities, such as home and CDBG funding, will be particularly important as the cost of living remains at an all-time high.

12:42The FY2026 funding our future program, set aside by the Council, will also help cover rising housing costs for clients. The following recommendations advance many of our City's goals that are listed in our five-year HUD consolidated plan, which include affordable housing, homeless services, transportation, community services, and business and workforce development.

13:08These recommendations also advance the City's housing and SLC goals, specifically increasing housing stability and increasing home ownership and equity. This year's recommendations include agency projects such as assists, inks, emergency home repair and accessibility program, which helps local homeowners make their homes safer and more accessible.

13:31And the Salt Lake City Housing Stability Division's fix the BRICS program, which preserves affordable housing in Salt Lake City by strengthening unreinforced masonry buildings against future earthquakes, such as we had in 2020. So I present these recommendations to you for your review and your ultimate final determination.

13:52I know these are hard decisions. This also begins our public comment process on my recommendations with the public hearing scheduled for March 24th. And I hope that residents of Salt Lake City and the applicants who you'll be considering will weigh in and provide their feedback on these recommendations. My appreciation goes out each year to our resident advisory board for their many, many volunteer hours in reviewing and scrutinizing the applications that the City received for this funding and for providing their meticulously derived scores for this limited funding.

14:28I wish we could fund all of the applications, but these tough decisions were put before our volunteer resident board, myself, and now to you City Council. I also want to express my thanks to our City's Housing Stability Division staff for facilitating this annual process and providing technical expertise on these funds.

14:49Thank you, Council Chair. And I look forward to seeing all the good things that these funds are going to do in our community.

14:59Thank you, Mayor Mendenhall. All right. That brings us to the public hearing section of our agenda.

15:10Now, these are specific proposals before the Council that require a public hearing, different than our general public hearing portion, which is at the end of the meeting. For this hearing, your comments must relate to the topic that you're speaking on, which is in the public hearing items that we'll announce one at a time as we move through the agenda.

15:37If you're on Zoom, please unmute your mic when your name is called. Each person will have two minutes. Once you reach the two-minute mark, the host will announce time and your microphone will be muted. We will call names in order to sign up. So if you hear your name called, that means you're on deck to speak next. If you need staff assistance in the room, please raise your hand, and someone will come and help you.

16:03If you're having technical issues on the Zoom or you need any other assistance, message staff support, and Akshay from our staff will help you. If you're unable to finish your comment in the two minutes, please share the rest of your comments via email, mail, or by calling our office. Contact information is listed on slc.gov.counsel.

16:26If you have a handout for the council, please notify staff. They'll assist you in distributing those and bringing them up to us. Okay. I think that covers all the rules. So let's go ahead and start with our first items. We're going to hear the first items B1 through B5. Those are all grant applications, so we're going to bundle them all together and hear those at once.

16:59But before we turn, or before we start taking those comments, I'll turn the time over briefly to Sylvia Richards, Council policy analyst, to give us a short introduction of these grant applications. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The City periodically applies for and receives grants which fund some city programs. Each grant will receive a public hearing which will give a council and the public an opportunity to learn more about the grants.

17:27First is the Environmental Protection Agency Brownsfields 2026 grant. And if awarded, the grant would fund the asbestos remediation portion of the Northwest Pipeline Building Rehabilitation. Second is the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Paul Coverdale Forensic Science Improvement Competitive Program grant. And if awarded, the grant would fund supplies, contracts, travel, and training costs.

17:58Third is the Salt Lake City Justice Court Strategic Planning and Case Flow Technical Assistance grant. If awarded, the grant would fund technical assistance from the National Center for State Courts. Anticipated outcomes include the development of a strategic plan. A year-run operational plan and an evaluation of the calendaring and case processing practices, resulting in a case flow management recommendations.

18:27Fourth is the Sister Cities International US Japan Global Impact Grant. And if awarded, the grant would fund travel costs for Salt Lake City delegation to Matsumoto, Japan, the grant. Would also fund workshops and roundtable discussions with stakeholders to develop a tourism model that sustains community benefits from the Olympic Games, both short and long term.

18:53Fifth is the Fiscal Year 2027 per capita Bureau of Emergency Medical Services grant. And if awarded, it would fund medical supplies used in providing emergency medical services to the public. Thank you. Thank you, Sylvia. All right, let's go ahead and start with our first public comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We do not have anyone registered to speak to these items.

19:20All right. Then I will look for a motion. Mr. Chair, I move that the Council close the public hearing and refer items B1 through B5 to a future consent agenda for action. Second. The motion from Council member Yang and a second from Council member Lopez Chavez. Is there any discussion to this motion? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and proceed to a vote. All in favor.

19:42Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. We will go ahead and move to our next public hearing item. Item B6 is for an ordinance for the Rio Grande Master Plan and Zoning Map Amendentment before we take public comments. So in the time over to Kate, wear it from Council policy analysts to give us a short introduction. Thanks, Kate.

20:12Great. Thank you. The Council will accept public comment during this public hearing and consider adopting an ordinance tonight or in the future that would amend the zoning for 32 properties located in the Rio Grande district. Between 200 south and 400 south, also between 500 west and 600 west. This project is located within Council district number two.

20:36The state rezone would change the properties from GMU or Gateway mixed use district to D4 or downtown secondary central business district. The proposal would allow for additional building height and it would also, the proposal would also amend the downtown plan to include the mid lock walkways within the Rio Grande district and update the implementation plan.

21:03Thank you. Thank you. All right. Let's go to our first public comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have about nine people registered to speak to this item. The first will be in Canada followed by David went and then Frederick Jenny and you may now unmute. Hello, and the team over here, District two. Just want to comment about the Rio Grande plan to better the tracks.

21:32I think that especially for the district, you'd be really beneficial to push for that plan. I'm sure we're going to hear more details about it for other commenters. But you know, all that land will be opened up and that can all be developed further. So yeah, I think you guys should. I think you made a body recommended it, but you know, figuring out how to work with.

21:57The Utah Department of Transportation and push the plan along. Thanks. Thank you. Next will be David went followed by Frederick Jenny and then Matt Givens David is here in person. Hello, my name is David went. I'm here to comment on agenda item B six, the Rio Grande district rezoning. So as you can imagine, I happen to be a fan of the Rio Grande plan, which is the idea that we're going to bury the rails for preferably under 500 West.

22:35And when I heard that you were going to rezone the Rio Grande district or surrounding the Rio Grande station. I thought this could be a very good thing for the plan. However, there is still a need to keep it compatible with the plan. So we need ideally, we would want to have a rezoning that does not add any additional impediments to bearing the rails.

23:01So ideally, if we could, for example, deal with the utilities that are currently on 500 West, if those could be moved in some way, it would reduce the cost of the plan to make it easier to implement. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next will be Frederick Jenny followed by Matt Givens and then Owen Mitchell, Frederick here in person.

23:22Hi there, everyone. My name is Frederick Jenny. I've been a resident of district four for nine years now. I'm here to support the D4 rezoning of the Rio Grande district, but I urge you to formally integrate the Rio Grande plans train box into this ordinance's implementation strategy like the green loop already is. The 1998 gateway specific plan made it clear.

23:47Railroad consolidation is what made this neighborhood feasible in the first place. Yet 30 years later, the city's own document still described the surface tracks as a no man's land and a neglected backdoor space. While this new ordinance addresses the buildings, it leaves the no man's land in place. We must adopt the train box to fix this after a century of neglect with a unified neighborhood.

24:13This ordinance sets a priority for compact walkable blocks, but the 400 South viaduct and surface tracks make it make true walkability impossible. We should not settle for walking under a bridge when we could be walking on a restored city street. Furthermore, the city has promised to daylight city Creek for nearly 30 years.

24:32You simply cannot restore a natural habitat or champion of green loop where freight trains currently run. Finally, the 1998 plan envisioned this area as the city's primary orientation point for transit. Currently, our transit is split and peripheral. By supporting the Rio Grande plan, we return passenger rail to the historic Rio Grande depot, creating the world-class multi-modal hub and vision decades ago.

24:56At the same time, we will turn a barrier, the depot, into an asset. I ask the council and the mayor to view the train box as the 21st century completion of the work started in 1998. Please do not just rezone the surface, fix the infrastructure that remains the single biggest obstacle in our city's cohesion. Thank you.

25:19Thank you. Next will be Matt Kivens, followed by Owen Mitcham and then Raymond Flores. Matt, I see you're in person. Hello. I want to echo what the other commentors said, but I also wanted to say that I support the upzoning of this area, and I think it's remarkable that it works with the Rio Grande plan. On 5th West, that would thread the needle there.

25:47I know that the city council in 1998 did adopt language that said 500 west should be preserved underground for future transit. Use something like that. So that's interesting. And me and somebody else was thinking about this back then. And I think what's interesting about these two blocks is that, you know, for 20 years or 30 years, nothing has really worked.

26:10And I think it's because of the lack of access to the location, which is kind of ironic, considering it's by the main train station. And that's, I think, because there's barriers on all side, and one of them is actually a train station. So I would like to see the Rio Grande district plan and a Salt Lake Central station replan, because the public hasn't been able to comment on Salt Lake Central since at least 2018 in any kind of formal way.

26:43I'd like to see that addressed too. So support the up zone, I think it's a perfect use, but I'm not sure that it's going to work as well as it could without the Rio Grande plan. Thank you. Next is Owen Mitchum, followed by Raymond Flores, and then Will Metz, Owen's here in person. Hello, my name is Owen Mitchum, and I'm here today to speak in support of the Rio Grande district zoning ordinance.

27:09And I'm a resident of district five. This up zoning will provide much needed density and economic investment in the heart of our city. To ensure the Rio Grande district becomes the vibrant addition to our community envisioned by this council, I strongly encourage them to adopt the Rio Grande plan, including the preservation of the 500 rest right away for below grade real transportation as is consistent with the 2019 Salt Lake City Council Member Policy Manual and the 1998 Gateway specific plan.

27:37To the district's implementation strategy. Without the Rio Grande plan, other priorities, such as the mayor's green loop, would be infeasible due to existing infrastructure, such as the presence of I-15 on ramps. I look forward to seeing this district developed with new homes, businesses, and institutional investments.

27:59And I hope that this council will include the historic Rio Grande depot as a vibrant community hub at the heart of it. Thank you.

28:11Next will be Raymond Flores followed by Will Metz and then Porter Warren. Raymond is here in person. Thank you, Council. I just want to reiterate from what my friends and colleagues have said that the Rio Grande plan should remain an important part of the rezoning of the Rio Grande district. And while I do support the rezoning as it currently is, I do want to just voice my opinion and say that the Rio Grande should be brought into consideration for that rezoning as well.

28:37Thank you. And next will be Will Metz followed by Porter Warren and then Andrew Katsuferkiss. Will you may now unmute. Hi, I'm Will and I live in Sugar House and I don't know as many specific details as some other people, but I am in support of this. And I also am a fan of the Rio Grande plan. I have been to cities like Reno and so on.

29:09And the train box in those cities, if that train box wasn't there, that part of the city would feel so disconnected and just not part of it. And I seeing the Rio Grande district as it is, I can't imagine anything where it would be just not perfect without if it didn't, it wouldn't be perfect without the train box. And I'm thinking also, I keep seeing the reports of the Utah Olympic delegates going to Italy and seeing these incredible train stations and incredible city centers that really demonstrate why this is an incredible place.

29:51Utah would just be really benefited to have something like that for Salt Lake City where we can say, oh, so look at this incredible hub city and how incredible it is as an Olympic hub. Thank you. Thank you. Next will be Porter Warren followed by Andrew Katsuferkiss. Porter, you may now unmute. Porter, you there? Okay, let's go ahead and go to Andrew.

30:36And then if Porter, if you come back, we'll take your comment after Andrew's. Go ahead. Hi, my name is Andrew Katsuferkiss. I don't want to repeat too much of what my peers and colleagues have said, but I too am in support of the Rio Grande district rezoning with the, of course, condition and caveat that we plan it in a way that accommodates for and allows for it.

30:58The future construction of the Rio Grande plan. Upzoning is essential for the downtown core of the city. We need a lot more housing. We need more density here. And in the same way that upzoning solves a major equity issue with the lack of housing, the Rio Grande plan helps all the major equity issue as well. The East West disconnect of our city.

31:15So again, like my colleagues, I urge you guys to support that. And I also would like it on the record that after lots of advocacy and dialogue that we other citizen volunteers had with the CRA last year, we had received over the last year. We had received a verbal commitment that the CRA would be looking at the Rio Grande plan more and would even include some more token language in the planning, uh, publications and documents for the Rio Grande district.

31:38So we hope that you keep that in mind. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Porter. All right. I think we lost Porter. Okay. Uh, anyone else wish to speak to this item? Okay. I'll look for motion. Mr. Chair, I move that the council close the public hearing and defer actions to a future meeting. The motion is there a second?

32:07Second. I have a motion from council member Dugan, a second from council member Pietro. Any discussion? Seeing that. Oh, council member Lopez Chavez, go ahead. Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you to those that came to advocate for the Rio Grande plan. I know that on the CRA side of the house, we've been working to both acknowledge and incorporate it into our documents.

32:27So I look forward to future discussions on this because I think we have a great opportunity here. And I appreciate the time that you've taken to come speak to us today. All right. Any other comments? Mr. Chair. Yes. You know, there is, uh, I appreciate as well the, the, the passion behind this project. Uh, council member Dugan has been the biggest advocate for this issue.

32:50Uh, he was, you know, we have a nickname for the project. And the names that after him, um, and, uh, you know, some people call the Dugan ditch, but you know, there is different other names for it that accomplish the same, the same goals. But ultimately, uh, the city is, uh, is supportive of, of, uh, and generally, like personally, I'm supportive of the dream.

33:12I made it very clear over the years that, that I am. Uh, ultimately the city doesn't have the funding for this because I'm the authority to do a lot of the things that this, uh, this, this, uh, project wants to accomplish. Um, and, you know, we want to make sure that the right people are making those decisions, but I don't think the select city should be, uh, stopping it.

33:36Um, and that's where we fit. So I think, uh, Council member Dugan has been working on a letter, uh, and I want to acknowledge the work that he's, he's been putting on that, uh, which I think soon is going to come up. Uh, so thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay. Uh, go ahead and vote all in favor.

33:57Hi. Hi. Hi. Okay. Uh, it sounded unanimous. Um, we'll go ahead and move on to agenda item B. Seven, which is an ordinance for fence and hedge height text amendments. Uh, before we begin taking comments, I'll turn the time over to Brian Fulmer, Council policy analyst to give us a short introduction to this item. Thank you.

34:26This item consists of two text amendments related to fence and hedge heights. The first amendment was initiated by the Council in January 2025 and called for increasing the hedge height in front yards to six feet. It would also increase the maximum fence, fence height in backyards to seven feet. Planning staff recommended moving hedges to the landscaping and buffer section of city code and defining them as landscaping.

34:54This would not restrict their height, but require them to be maintained. The second amendment was initiated by the Planning Commission to extend the maximum six foot front yard fence height in the M1 zoning district within the international center to all properties in the M1 and M1A zoning district city wide, except for those that abut or are across the street from zoning districts that allow residential uses.

35:22Thank you, Brian. We'll go ahead and take our first public comment on this item. Chair, there are three people registered to speak to this item. The first will be Cindy Kromer followed by Derek Dyer and then Susan Klinker. Cindy is here in person. Hi, my name is Cindy Kromer and I just want to provide some information about the historic areas of the city.

35:48Front yard fencing was actually pretty uncommon and when it occurred, it was much lower than what we consider necessary now. So I went F while you while we're meeting in your work session. I dashed over to South Temple and measured a fence that appeared to be original and it was a whopping 41 inches tall at the top. And then I measured one of my own properties, a hoop and dart original iron fence.

36:20And it was actually less than three feet at the top of the hoops and the normal post measured a whopping 41 inches. So I have fences in the front yard at two properties. There is no evidence in the tax records, the tax photographs that there were fences at my other properties. And so these fences are actually to borrow a phrase from the planners, a product of our own time when they are in historic districts.

36:53So I just ask you as you change fencing heights, certainly the one in the M1 and M1A is very warranted. But when you're in a residential district and it's a historic district, remember that they were either not there at all or they were much lower. Thanks. Thank you. Next is Derek Dyer followed by Susan Cleanker, Derek is here in person.

37:18Good evening council members. My name is Derek Dyer. I'm the executive director of the Utah Arts Alliance. Speaking about the historic art castle at 915 West 100 South. The art castle is a 125 year old historic building that we are restoring as a community arts and cultural center. As part of this project, we are developing a public sculpture garden that features several important works, including those by renowned West side artists Raphael Policia, pieces that are truly irreplaceable works of art.

37:47Our goal for this sculpture garden is that it's open to the public during the day. But like many cultural facilities, we also have to secure the property at night to protect both the historic building and the artwork from vandalism or theft. Under the current zoning ordinance, fencing in street facing areas of mixed use zones is limited to four feet, even for non residential cultural facilities.

38:11While that standard works for residential front yards, it does not provide adequate security for places responsible for protecting historic buildings and valuable pieces of art. As we've worked with city staff to try to resolve this issue, we've been told that there's currently no mechanism in the code to allow for six foot fence in this situation.

38:28And the only real solution would be updating the ordinance itself. We were also advised that pursuing a variance would likely never succeed and would simply be a waste of time and resources as no variance has ever been approved ever. City similar in sites to Salt Lake City already recognized the need for secure enclosures around civic and cultural sites.

38:48For example, Seattle allows six foot fencing around cultural, institutional and non residential properties, including community facilities. Portland allows up to seven feet around properties, including cultural and institution sites. Denver allows six foot fences around non residential properties, commonly how museums, churches and schools secure outdoor areas.

39:10These cities recognize that schools, recreation centers, churches and cultural facilities must balance between public access and responsible security. My request tonight is simple. Please consider amending the zoning ordinance to allow six foot fences. Thank you. I think we've received that. But any other comments that you didn't get to finish your welcome to email to us. Thank you.

39:41And next will be Susan Klinker who is here in person. My name is Susan Klinker, District 7. And I support the proposed tax amendments in particular, not regulating hedges within the same ordinance as walls and fences, but instead regulating them under the landscaping section of the ordinance. This, the proposed changes increases allowable hedge height for homeowners and has the potential to increase the overall level of vegetation within the city.

40:15So it expands the urban canopy and wildlife habitat, especially for birds. It can improve our air quality and reduce our urban heat island effects. And considering this issue, I'd also like to note the really high number of hedge violations currently found across the city, which are only enforced by complaint. So the proposed tax amendment would reduce the number of potential landscaping violations that come before the Planning Commission into the future and streamline the workload for city staff.

40:49Thank you. Thank you. All right. Any other commenters? Okay. I'll look for a motion. Mr. Chair, I move that the Council close the public hearing and adopt the ordinance. Second. Oh, I'm sorry. Wait. Taking that back. One more time. I move that the Council close the public hearing and defer action to a future Council. Second.

41:15I have a motion from Council member Young and a second from Council member Lopez Chavez. Any discussion to this? Yes. All right. One second. So we'll go to Council member Young first and then Council member Poohy. Go ahead. I was just so excited. I jumped the gun. So thank you and apologies. I just want to really think one of our public commenters tonight, who really helped to at least start the exploration related to the hedge height component.

41:42I know that a lot of times individuals come across something where they're like, this can't be right. There's got to be a solution to fix it. And they think like, oh, I could just take it to the city and I'm sure it's going to be fixed tomorrow. Turns out, no, it takes a little longer than that. And I'm just very, very grateful to have residents who not only took the time to not just bring this to the city, give us the opportunity, but also to give us the grace and space to have the time to be able to do it in a way that makes sense for the entire city, looking at all the different aspects.

42:18And I want to thank you for sticking with us. And like I said, looking forward to having a solution that is going to support everyone within the community. Thank you, Council member Poohy. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to highlight it, Council member Young, for being in this issue and channeling the concerns from the neighbors and how some of these pieces of the ordinance really make sense.

42:46When she mentioned this issue, I mentioned to her that the heights of the fences were also an issue in some parts of my district, especially when we're densifying and the need for a little higher of fences. Too much actually the standard nationally. So I'm glad that we are here today. You know, in front of us in ordinance that makes sense to adapt to the modern times.

43:14And I'm very excited to see that the neighbors are actually seeing this ordinance is adapt and move with it with the need that this time requires. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments? All right, I'll just add that I first, Jeff and for my colleagues, I'm interested in using this as an opportunity to see if we can resolve the issue with the sculptural garden and the art.

43:44So I hope we'll have a chance to have that conversation. And deferring action will allow that. So, all right. Any other comments? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and vote all in favor. Aye. Any opposed? All right, that passes unanimously. We're on agenda item B8, which is an ordinance and master plan and zoning map amendment at approximately 527, 537 and 539 south 400 east.

44:20Before we begin taking comments, I'll turn the time over to Austin Kimmel, Council policy analyst to give us a short introduction. Thanks, council members. This is a public hearing for a proposal to amend the central community master plan future land use map from medium high density residential to high density mixed use and a rezone three properties at 527, 537, and 539 south 400 east from RMF 45 to MU5.

44:48The petitioner proposes to demolish three existing single family homes and to construct a mixed use department building with ground floor commercial space. The proposed ordinance requires the petitioner to enter into a development agreement with Salt Lake City that includes three specific conditions, including that all demolished dwelling units on the property will be replaced with at least three two bedroom units, a minimum of 1100 square feet of commercial space, and tenants displaced by the demolition must be provided with tenant relocation assistance.

45:21The project is proposed to complement the adjacent six story apartment building to the north, which is under the same ownership. Potential action is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, March 24th. Thanks. Okay, we'll go ahead and take our first public comment. Mr. Chair, there are two people registered to speak to this item.

45:44The first will be Stacey Curlin followed by Cindy Curlin Stacy, you may not meet Stacey. I am here. Can you hear me? We can now go ahead. Thanks. Hi, I'm Stacey Kirkland and I live on Denver Street, which is directly around the corner from the proposed site that Thrive Development is looking to build their new property.

46:17I understand that because I'm around the corner doesn't directly affect us, but in fact, it does. Denver Street is a very narrow street. If you've been here, you would know that parking is only allowed on one side. Two cars cannot safely pass each other since the opening of the Citizen One, which took three years. And during that time, constant noise, construction, blocked access, disruption, all the things that come with, you know, building a property that big occurred.

46:52But since they opened it for residents to dwell, there were immediately three pretty bad accidents on Denver Street. And that caused the city to try to mitigate by putting a speed bump on our essentially alleyway of the street. It hasn't solved the core problem. The street can't safely handle all this traffic. The existing development has already, you know, brought increased noise, pollution, congestion, disruption.

47:22It's diminished the livability of our street. The trash for the dumpsters is built in a tunnel that echoes exponentially through the valley when the trash is being picked up. So, you know, what I would like is I know this is going to move forward. There's no doubt in my mind. I knew that when they built the Citizen One, this was a plan because you would not have the egress only on Denver Street for building that size if you weren't already planning something on Fort East.

47:57But I would like assurances that you are not going to have construction workers parking on the street. There's no room. Please comment. Thank you Stacy for your comments. If you can finish, if you can email us or mail us the rest of your comments, we would be happy to include those as part of the public record. And next we'll be Cindy Kramer who's here in person.

48:27This is a larger scale rant about the concept of community benefit. When this came through the process, there was wording. I remember it. The word was commensurate. I need to go back through the record because it's not in the ordinance and the math doesn't work. Okay. An unrestricted view in perpetuity to the Wasatch front is not something that you can trade off for a bicycle rack.

48:59And two bedroom units are not in short supply in District 3. And the developer came in with 80% of AMI units, but it morphed. So the cake is getting baked in planning in terms of the acceptance of the community benefit. In this case, before you tonight, actually we're talking about waiving a community benefit for one of the houses because it was vacant.

49:28I almost erupted in the meeting. The fact that it is vacant is a function of what the owner decides to do with the house. It's not its benefit to the city. It is exactly the kind of housing people want, a small single family residence. So I am asking you to intervene and try to do something about this concept of community benefit because there is completely inadequate math involved in the value of what the developers are bringing and what the city is providing.

50:08Thanks. Thank you. Sorry, go ahead. I'm not a doctor for this item. Okay. Anybody else who should speak to this? Okay. I'll look for a motion. Mr. Chair, I move that the Council close the public hearing and defer action to a future Council meeting. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion from Council Member Lopez Chavez and a second from Council Member Poohy.

50:39Anyone wish to speak to this motion? Council Member Lopez Chavez. Yeah, thank you. Again, thank you to everyone that took the time to speak. Some of the neighbors I've been able to speak to over the years and actually met with the developers that are planning this project today specifically to talk about the egress points, the increase in transportation, the noise pollution, as well as looking at other amenities such as dog stations, making sure that there is attainable and affordable commercial ground floor spacing to make sure that that doesn't sit vacant.

51:12So we have more opportunities, I believe, to work together on this project, but just wanted to recognize those points as well as thanking those commentators today. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Any other comments from Council members? Okay. We'll go ahead and vote. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. All right. That is unanimous.

51:36Seven in favor. Let's move on to agenda item number. Be nine. Which is an ordinance for recurring nuisance properties. Before we take Council or comments on this, I'll turn the time over to Michael Sanders, Council policy analysts to give us a short introduction. Okay. The Council was briefed on this item on September 9, 2025 and February 17th of this year.

52:09This ordinance introduces an administrative process to both declare property as a nuisance and force. Nusance conduct is defined broadly as behavior that interferes with the health, safety or welfare of the community materially and repeatedly infringes on the quiet enjoyment of neighboring uses or results in the harassment of patrons or other persons.

52:30Examples of possible nuisance behaviors are included on lines 48 through 86 of the legislative draft. Since the last briefing on this item, an updated proposal was submitted to the Council office. Since we didn't have time for another briefing, we wanted to share some more detailed notes on what this updated draft includes.

52:47The updated draft removed parking violations and excessive loud noise as specific examples of nuisance conduct. However, these could be covered in the definitions of what constitutes a nuisance. Additionally, there are other sections of code that would address these types of violations. Also, the proposal added new nuisance examples, for example, graffiti, uable from the public way and idle and unfinished construction.

53:11As the Council may remember, the draft ordinance included steps a property owner could take to address nuisance issues. The updated draft includes a few additional potential steps to resolve nuisance issues. Additionally, the updated draft narrowed the 30-day ongoing violation standard to only specific violations, established daily fines for specific violations, which escalate from $25 to $100 daily depending on repeat violations within a 12-month period, and it clarified that the city may petition the administrative appeals officer to order an abatement plan, issue an abatement order, and or grant judgment for the accumulated civil fines.

53:53These updates were shared in an updated staff report in your packets. Additionally, to date, Council staff reviewed over 20 comments that were emailed to the office. Staff could provide more information to clarify how this proposal is related but separate from the city's ordinance related to unruly parties and events.

54:12The Council may wish to take action this evening at the close of the public hearing or wait until March 24th. Staff is happy to prepare a follow-up briefing if needed or requested. Thank you. Let's go ahead and take our first public comment on this item. Mr. Chair, we have five people registered to speak to this item.

54:32The first will be Jared West followed by Rishi Madhiradi, and then Jen Colby. Jared is here in person. Jared? Okay, I don't see him. Maybe stepped out for a minute. Let's go to the second commentor and I'll come circle back. So next will be Rishi Madhiradi followed by Jen Colby and then Mary Glad. Rishi. Okay, here we go. Yes. Okay. Hi, my name is Rishi. I'm a student at the Youth Study Emergency Medicine.

55:06I decided to speak today because I've become aware of the unfair rules that are trying to be passed. I couldn't sit by without trying to represent the other side. On that note, before anything else, I'd like to address how self-serving it is to schedule this discussion during our spring break, to reduce the number of students and they're ready to represent themselves.

55:23The heart of my argument is that I truly believe that by coming down on students in their social gatherings, they're saying they'll be making a terrible mistake. I understand that families and non-students do live in this neighborhood and have for a while, and I've absolutely nothing against them. My roommate Samaya upstairs neighbors to this wonderful Venezuelan family, and on the last night of the day, we've slided with them and their kids the whole day until it got dark.

55:44When we're too loud to let us know, we always accommodate them because we understand the needs of a family and their jobs. We also, we are self-promised together. We communicate. The reason I chose to use the amount of people that could have the chance to meet. We love hosting gatherings at our house to meet new people and make friends.

56:03These gatherings are important to people of our age, meet in a community-related or pivotal part of college. If the rules are here being proposed, you're severely trying to limit congregation of any sort, and I can't stand by that. Personally, we've gotten noise complaints from playing music and playing darts in our backyard at 7 p.m.

56:20That's not disrespectful or disruptive. That's people having fun. I think it's unreasonable for residents to expect total silence in their neighborhood 24-7. Friends who are able to have barbecues outside. That's not excessive noise or disruptive gatherings, that's people making memories and friends. I think this level of disregard for students' personal lives can only do negative things for the school.

56:40What helps schools grow is alumni that love the institution and the things surrounding there. That's the reason that universities allowed things like Greek life and clubs, despite the problems that may arise from it. I don't mean to compare our gatherings to frat parties, but they serve the same purpose of the culture for the university.

56:58They grow institutions through morale and spirit. I really implore you to schedule another meeting where students have a chance to represent themselves. Thank you. Jen Colby? Jen Colby followed by Mary Grad and then James Williams. Jen's here in person. No, I'm here. Oh, hi. Hi, Jim. Yes, hi. Jen Colby, District 4. I am on the East Central Community Council, but these are bored, but these are my personal comments.

57:30I just want to reference the letter that our chair, Esther Hunter, sent today. And while I am sympathetic to the previous caller, I once was a student myself and also am an alum of the University of Utah, we are not talking about general gatherings here. We are talking about the most unruly, egregious, massive, drunken, out-of-control, scary scenes that have really increased step to the pandemic.

57:57I'm not sure what happened, but our neighbors, many people tried just to directly address this. A lot of us love having students in our neighborhood. We once were, as I said, it's not about general gatherings, although it sounds like some people are a little more sensitive to noise and others, but that's not what this ordinance is addressing.

58:14The level of and scale of these out-of-control gatherings is beyond what the neighbors could have just managed directly. And we really appreciate the involvement of the city and our police force, even though it's a real regret for me to even have to think that we need to engage the police in these sorts of things. But the kind of illegal behaviors going on just cannot be tolerated.

58:38We're also starting to see real retaliation against neighbors, including desecration of property, hate speech, really, really egregious things. And again, I'm sympathetic to general gatherings. We have them ourselves. That's not what we're talking about here. So I certainly encourage the city to move forward on this. I think noise should be included. And also, I think, under age drinking is a reality.

59:05We've become the east side illegal underground bar scene. And I think that really needs to be gotten under control, especially since a lot of these kids, when this breaks up, jump in their cars and head out driving, which is super dangerous. So thank you for your time. I hope you will update this. And I'm sorry this is happening. And then hopefully we will get it under control. Thank you.

59:25Next will be Mary Brad followed by James Williams. Mary, you may not. Hi. I have one in Jada, so I'm going to have my husband speak for us. So we are appreciative of the comments. We'd like to let them know that we are a lieness of the University of Utah as well. This is a residential neighborhood issue and not so much a campus issue.

59:59It involves late night parties that typically don't start before 9.30. It also sometimes involves late night construction issues and noises. So it's not necessarily restricted to students. But as a result of some of these recent and multiple parties that have been very loud starting late, we've seen public yard urination in a front yard.

1:00:36We've had public growing on the sidewalks and sometimes spilling over into our front yard. And a lot of it involves underage drinking and public drunkenness. And so the lack of having something that's enforceable when we call the police to respond is very concerning to us. We've called the police and they don't respond unless there's a fighting going on or something that involves safety.

1:01:13Building things under control. Right now, I think the time for these is 10 p.m., which is fine in those ordinance. But it needs to have some teeth into it so that we have a way to not just talk to our neighbors but have the city enforce things as well. People are moving too. Thank you. And next is James Williams, who's here in person.

1:01:42Okay, and then we'll all circle back to Jared at that time. So if Jared West, if you're here, you're on deck. Go ahead, James. Hello. Hello. My name is James Williams. I live near the University of Utah, a mechanical engineering student there. I believe that while noise can be considered an issue around the university with gatherings becoming inconvenient to neighbors, it should be dealt with person to person without the need for the city to spend time covering what is considered excessive noise.

1:02:10As a resident within the Salt Lake Valley, I believe that we possess a right to gather and socialize on private property, even outside quiet hours. While noise and gatherings may get loud, it is improbable for residents to know how much noise is considered excessive without direct intervention from those neighbors. I believe that as a student at the U, gathering should be less restrictive at the area surrounding the university.

1:02:34As university students need to be able to form long-lasting relationships with their peers, and that would require having others besides residents at their house without the risk of police intervention. I would also like to mention how many people affected by this ordinance are unaware or would have problems attending this meeting due to this university spring break.

1:02:52I would like to thank the city and the council for their time and considerations. Thank you. Jared? Last shot? Okay. Ollie will look for a motion. Oh, sure, yes. That's okay. When you're finished with your comments, will you fill out a card just so that we have your name and contact information? But yes, you can go ahead and speak for two minutes.

1:03:19My name is Ben Engel. I live on 100 South, kind of more in the downtown area. Not really so much with the university partying, but we just have a lot of recurring nuisances that may be kind of out of the scope of what this is. And I'm not quite sure how this will be applied to things like that. We've got like the old Northern Pipeline building, which just got approved for the Salt Lake Housing Authority.

1:03:51That's a regular gathering place for lots of people and a lot of activity, a lot of litter. Around my home, you know, urination and defications, pretty regular, we've got to clean that up. You know, I generally talk with people that are in the neighborhood. And usually just having attention to people that are potentially going to be doing damage to our neighborhood.

1:04:18You know, they generally are compliant and they don't hang out very long. But in these other areas that like we can't really pay much attention to, it seems like it's always the police that have to go and pay attention to those areas. And I don't think the police are really, I don't know, the best people to be able to deal with some of that stuff.

1:04:36It seems like a lot of times we need more just attention. And I don't know how it is that we like find the right resources to be able to handle those things. Like, well, we had a property that was owned by the city and the city can't manage those things. It makes it really hard to understand how it is like a residence is going to do that when it's something and that's, you know, at the house next door.

1:04:58But again, some of these things seem like to have the police show up, you know, it's kind of like have a threat of violence in order to be able to make peace. Doesn't always seem to work real well. And a lot of times that's the response. So I just think that if we think about this more carefully, maybe we can find the resources to be able to deal with appropriately.

1:05:20Thank you. Thank you. Molly will look for a motion. Mr. Chair, move the council. Sorry about that. Did you want to speak to this as well? You may. Yeah, you can fill out a card after, but go ahead and go ahead and leave your comments first. You have two minutes. I'm only going to play a 20 second video. Okay. That's it.

1:05:46I live near the University of Utah. I'm a long-time resident. I've lived there 50 years. So I've lived in my home 30. This is inside my bedroom at 1 30 in the morning. I could let that play and I have multiple others. I need to sleep. I don't know what else I can do. I've tried asking officers to come help. I end up having to deal with it myself.

1:06:37It's dangerous trying to deal with people that are inebriated because it starts at usually 9 10 o'clock at night. And by the time I'm so frustrated, I need to go over and try and work with people. And it's not just my home. It's the home across the street. It's the home four doors down. It's the home five or six up the street.

1:06:54And I just don't know what else to do. And I need some help in order to do this. I'm a graduate from the University of Utah myself. So is my wife. I've tried over the years to try to work with this, but it just keeps getting worse and worse. And I'm all four students getting together. It just doesn't have to be one house to another.

1:07:18I've walked out of my front door in the morning to caution tape from somebody that was shot across the street because they tried to take beer out of a party at night. Here we are. I don't know what else to say. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Mr. Chair. Yes. I'm with the council closed the public hearing and defer action to a future council meeting.

1:07:40Second. I have a motion from council member Dugan and a second from council member pulley. Is there any discussion to this? Council member Lopez Chavez. Thank you. And thank you again to all the individuals that took the time to comment. I just want to remind folks in 2025 in August of 2025. Due to the complaints and concerns from all types of neighbors that are shared in district four, we passed the unruly parties gatherings and events ordinance.

1:08:05And what it did is it created ended a loophole specifically for university adjacent neighborhoods that see the struggle of after our parties that are unruly. It created property owner liability for the actual homeowner property owner. It included a $1,000 fine and it really defined what unruly gatherings were. For this ordinance, I just want to remind folks this came at the behest and request of our police department.

1:08:32And that is because we didn't have a process where we could regulate a process in which we could deliver and remove different citations for business licenses that were being utilized to promote. After hours activity, if you remember, this was back in September of 2025. The original proposal included limiting alcohol consumption after 2 a.m.

1:08:59That is not included in this ordinance that's been amended and that's due to the good work of council member Wharton and council member Poohy. So thank you for taking that and amending that ordinance. What it did though is it provided very clear examples of what is new nuisance. And the reason why loud noise is not included in this ordinance today is because we have multiple iterations of it already.

1:09:21There are clear violations and structural changes within the police department thanks to the work of the mayor's office of chief read and the different departments detective Stewart has taken this on to make sure that there can be proper fines citations, education and also the opportunity for the residents to learn about these citations, to learn about these ordinances and participate and gather in a way that's healthy, safe and promotes the well being of all neighbors.

1:09:48So I'm very supportive of this and I just wanted to again commend the work of our 2 council members that led this because it's been a long time coming and it's been an ordinance that came out of the work with community members that are throwing these parties like for the police to be able to deliver black void, plum house, other businesses. And now we have a real process that is very clear and definitive so that we can engage and participate in healthy recreational activity. Thank you.

1:10:15Thank you. Any other comments? Yes, Mr. Chair. Council member Poohy. Yes. I just wanted to highlight to some of the neighbors over there that we hear you. We know the concerns you are experiencing. I just want to take an action. And, you know, it really is very hard to regulate every single behavior, but we have enacted some ordinances that that type of some of these issues.

1:10:41I also want to highlight Council Member Mano, Council Member Chris Wharton and myself who worked very hard to make sure that this ordinance in front of us, that is focused on commercial and business licenses that are acting within the law or within the spirit of the law. So this ordinance in front of us closes some of the loopholes and some of the issues that we have seen to ensure that those businesses are acting correctly for our neighbors. So this is the right type of ordinance that I'm very thankful that is here in front of us and we can close this chapter. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

1:11:22Thank you. Any other comments to this from the Council? Okay, let's go ahead and proceed to a vote. All in favor. Sorry. All right. Any opposed? All right. That passes unanimously. That brings us to our final public comment other than our general public comment later, which is item B 10. This is for an ordinance that would temporarily close.

1:11:49I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Chair. That's okay. Oh, okay. Then yeah, great. Go ahead. Okay. As you noted, this ordinance is public hearing is about an ordinance that would temporary close portions of streets adjacent to Temple Square for six months in 2027. Approximately March through October. The proposed temporary closures intended to facilitate public safety and crowd control management during the reopening celebration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake Temple.

1:12:31Thank you, Nick. We'll go ahead and take our first public comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are 17 people registered to speak to this item. The first will be Jake C. Sharon followed by Jen Kobe and then Ann Palmer. Jake, you mean not unmute? Good evening, Council Chair Wharton and the members of the Council. My name is Jake C.

1:12:57Strend and I'm a resident of the Guadalupe neighborhood within District 3. And I currently serve as the vice chair of the Capitol Hill Community Council. And I just want to say that these points represent the primary concerns gathered from many of our neighbors and residents at our last February 18th meeting. But these don't reflect the entire broad sentiment, but they don't necessarily represent the official voted upon position of the community council as a whole.

1:13:25For those of us in District 3 North and South Temple are not just traffic routes. They are lifelines closing both corridors for six months effectively cuts off our primary access to the hospital. The main hospital for our neighborhood as well as other grocery stores and essential businesses on the east side. To ensure this project is a success for the city and the residents we propose for collaborative solutions.

1:13:50One, we ask the city to commit to keeping at least one major East West connection open. Residents must be able to reach emergency medical services and downtown core without being forced into nightmare bottleneck. Two parking protections with teeth. Most of our neighbors rely solely on street parking. We need a temporary permit program with real active enforcement to ensure that residents aren't displaced from their own front doors.

1:14:14Three equitable mitigation funding. The city is collecting several million dollars in fees from the church for this project. We believe these funds should follow the impact. We would like dedicating a portion of these to an enforcement fund. And finally we'd like some accountability on transit. We want to see how the data on how visitors are being incentivized to lease cars at home.

1:14:37We need a proactive plan that prevents residential side streets from becoming over full lots for downtown traffic. We look forward to working together to protect our access and quality of life while our city grows. Thank you for your time and for your service. Thank you. Next will be Jen Kobe followed by Ann Palmer and then Sarah Jameson.

1:14:57Jen you may not want. Yes, Jen Kobe district four. I strongly support open streets events and pedestrianized urban zones. But looking closer at this proposal, I'd serious concerns and ask that the ordinance be revised. We're still a year out. So please do not rush to vote on this until these issues are resolved. I'm glad to see that event organizers recognize that it is the cars that are the problem and safety threat, not the people outside of cars.

1:15:20If only I would argue for safer streets by design more broadly. Anyway, my concerns here include the exclusivity clause, the proposed fencing, the scope of the closures and potential discrimination. I object to the apparent closure of the streets to bicycles, especially in the critical West Temple lanes. The 10 acre blocks make walking and bicycling detours burdensome, especially given the lack of a complete safe protected by playing network downtown.

1:15:41I ask that car traffic be blocked with appropriate barricades, but no fencing be allowed. I do not think Salt Lake City should sell out the people's rights of general public access to our streets. The city should simply temporarily restrict the ability of car drivers to use them. I also suggest considering only the closure of Eastbound North Temple in both blocks and only the Northbound Car Lane of West Temple.

1:16:01Several UTA buses used North Temple and celebration visitors should be able to use them. I'm particularly as well as residents. I'm particularly worried about potential discriminatory actions against certain groups of people, especially if the exclusionary zones are fenced and access points are controlled by the church.

1:16:15President Oaks has led the legal charge to maintain religious privilege to discriminate. This is currently aimed mostly at people who identify as LGBTQIA+, all people should be able to use their public streets and sidewalks freely without fear bias or discrimination. Please do not sell out these rights even temporarily.

1:16:33Therefore, I ask that you modify the language of the ordinance to remove the word exclusive. Please add a section that specifies full non-discrimination during the closure for all people. Restricted access should only be for private cars. Please also forbid fencing. With these changes, this could be a wonderful open streets season that truly celebrates the restored Salt Lake Temple and welcomes the world.

1:16:53As it is, unfortunately, it may risk driving more division and community conflict in times such as these peacemaking is sorely needed. Thank you. Next will be Ann Palmer followed by Sarah Jean-Hinson and then Stan Parrish. Ann, you may now unmute. Hello. My name is Ann Palmer and I am a descendant of John Rowe Memorial, the Stone Mason who carved the words, holiness to the Lord on the east side of the temple.

1:17:26I'm a district three member and I'm extremely concerned reiterating what was previously stated about access for important places such as the avenues to the airport, to the hospital, to City Creek Center and to LDS Hospital for people in my neighborhood. I am concerned about the lack of attention to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, providing the same kind of thoughtful advance planning and transport from LDS welfare square to visitors of the center.

1:18:10And importantly, I think that we need to think about not only mitigation strategies but the prospect of modifying temporary access leading to permanent road restrictions, which is evidenced in Goldgate, Park JFK, Kennedy Drive. I think that it's really the important security access issues are preeminent but secondarily what other identity group would receive the same kind of consideration that has been given for the special observance of the temple to other identity groups, which we've had in the Olympics when the Dalai Lama was here and in other times in our community with important economic impact such as this one upcoming.

1:19:01So I see a little bit of Paris impeding the future of accessibility by multiple forms of transport downtown in Salt Lake City. Thank you. Next will be Sarah Jimson followed by Stan Parish and then Deep Brewer, Sarah's here in person. And then I am the owner of Grim Ghost Tours, a small tour company that operates in downtown Salt Lake City.

1:19:32For the past 14 years, we have provided both residents and visitors with a fun unique way to learn about Salt Lake City. Good, I haven't seen you for a long time. Oh, I get the women's history month. No, I'm remit. I know. I know. I know. I know. Yeah, Katherine Beale. Where is she? Katherine Beale. There. No, Abe is here.

1:22:57I know. I don't want to kick one over. Do you know what I'm saying? No, because it's only the last tour. No, I know. But this one goes down. She's over there. What? She's four. Oh, this is mine.

1:23:14To just put it behind mine. Yeah. And then you can meet this one. And that way we're one little girl. This is the right elevation too for me. I think I have a different chair too. Oh my gosh, I'm so embarrassed. This is from the inner continent. Oh, thank you. And I immediately pulled in an Orthodox tradition. Women can't touch me.

1:23:47Oh, oh. But I'm so embarrassed. I'm so embarrassed. I can't even be asked. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I was still less anxious. Yeah. I didn't know that. One of those things that went over my head. I was like, oh my gosh. Me and me, I didn't know that. Oh, wow. Yeah, no. You know what? I knew it, but it just scared me. It's such a big deal.

1:24:12If you do it. So. I have a problem. I have a problem. I have a problem.

1:25:01I have two people to get back. Oh. Yeah. Okay. That's very cool. Wherever you want. Yeah. I might be in a rough position. I'm pretty sure we do. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. Jennifer, do we have council members online? Great. Okay. Ready? Okay. Okay. We do have two council members that are joining us online.

1:26:10So for any lawyers or parliamentarians in the audience, we do have a quorum present. So we'll go ahead and get started. Welcome to today's meeting. We're happy to have you here, whether you're joining us in person or online. We hope you'll continue to participate in whatever manner you feel most comfortable. We are going to start with the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:26:35Please join me. Okay. Thank you again for everybody that is here with us tonight. But before we move through the agenda, I just want to go through some registration information and our rules of the quorum. Just explain a little bit about the reasoning about why we have these rules as well. So we welcome everyone, regardless of your opinion or side on an issue, because we have people with varying opinions on important issues, the council's goal is to make sure the meetings are a place where everyone feels comfortable participating.

1:27:33This is the most local level of government, and it is a key value of ours to ensure that we have created a respectful and safe environment so that no one's intimidated out of participating. This also allows us to ensure the meeting can continue and we can conduct the scheduled city business. We invite each of you to contribute to this space to speak your mind and to welcome others to do the same.

1:27:55In order to create this welcoming and safe space, we'll pause the meeting at any time an action becomes disruptive or inhibits our ability to conduct the meeting. We will also stop for any safety concerns that involve threats or unprotected speech. If there are repeated actions or comments, it may result in removal from the meeting.

1:28:17We will not be giving multiple warnings about the following rules. To avoid intimidating others, please avoid the use of threatening and discriminatory language. Do not insult others based on religion, ethnicity, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability. Whether or not you disagree with someone's comment, clapping, sharing, shouting, booing, snapping, gesturing, or obstructing or discouraging others from commenting is not allowed.

1:28:44As council members, we refrain from reacting or responding to allow everyone to share their opinions freely. This is to keep our reactions from affecting your ability or willingness to share your opinion freely. If you would like to follow up with any of us, please see Council staff or the Zoom chat for contact information.

1:29:06When making your comments, please address the body and not individual elected officials. If you have a handout for the council, please raise your hand and Council staff will assist you. Council staff are available during and after the meeting to help with any questions or information sharing. The full meeting rules are listed at the door and our staff will post a link to those in the Zoom as well.

1:29:30As a reminder of our public comment registration process, individuals may register to comment on scheduled public hearing items up until the hearing is closed. For the general comment section, we will accept sign-ups until 7.30 pm. The general comment section is limited to a maximum of one hour and will only include commenters who registered before 7.30.

1:29:54So if you're here to give general comments, please make sure and sign up before that time. It is possible that not everyone will get to speak at general comment. This brings us to item A4, which is... Wait a minute. Yes, sorry. This item A4 is that the council will approve the work session meeting minutes of September 9th, 2025, September 16th, 2025, October 7th, 2025, and October 14th, 2025, as well as the formal meeting minutes of August 19th, 2025, October 7th, 2025, October 21st, 2025, and December 9th, 2025.

1:30:39I will look for a motion. So moved. Second. I have a motion from council member Dugan and a second from council member Yang. Is there any discussion to this? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and vote. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? I'm an aye. You're an aye. Yes. Okay. Then that passes unanimously with one council member absent.

1:31:05That brings us to item A5, which is the council will consider adopting a joint ceremonial resolution with Mayor Mendenhall recognizing March as National Women's History Month in Salt Lake City. I will turn the time over to council member Dugan to read the resolution. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Joint resolution recognizing women's history month.

1:31:28Whereas women's history month celebrated annually in March, honors as contributions and achievements of women throughout history and a contemporary society. And whereas Salt Lake City acknowledges the invaluable role that women have played in shaping the cultural, economic, and social fabric of our community, contributing to its growth, diversity, and resilience.

1:31:48And whereas Salt Lake City recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality to ensure a more just and equitable society for all. Whereas the theme of women's history month 2026 leading the change, women's shaping a sustainable future seeks to encourage a long term vision for our future where women's leadership is central to thriving communities and a healthy planet.

1:32:12And whereas women's history month serves as a celebration of the progress made under advancing women's rights and a reminder of the ongoing work needed to build a more inclusive future. And whereas the League of Women Voters of Utah has been a vital part of women's political power for over 100 years. Serving as a nonpartisan grassroots organization that works to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy by empowering voters and defending democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation at the local, state, and national levels.

1:32:48And whereas Salt Lake City is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where women are valued, respected, and given equal opportunity to thrive. Now, therefore, it would be resolved that the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor of Salt Lake City hereby honor and recognize Women's History Month 2026 encourage all residents to participate in activities and events that celebrate the achievement and contributions of women in Salt Lake City and beyond.

1:33:13And be it further resolved that Salt Lake City reaffirms its dedication to advancing gender equality and promoting the empowerment of women and girls in all aspects life pledging to continue working toward a more inclusive and equitable society for future generations. Mr. Chair. Thank you, Council Member Dugan. I'll entertain a motion.

1:33:40I move that we. Adopt the resolution to join resolution with a mayor recognizing Women's History Month for March. Second. I have a motion from Council Member Dugan and a second from Council Member Young. Is there any discussion to this? Anyone online want to say anything? Okay. We'll go ahead and vote all in favor. Aye.

1:34:04Aye. Any opposed? All right, that passes unanimously with. Do we have Council Member who do we have? All of them? I'm here, Mr. Chair. Okay, got you. I think I hear Council Member Pietro. Okay. E5 is here. Erika is here. Okay. So with Council Member Lopez-Chaabas absent. Okay. Thank you. All right. We will now go to item A6.

1:34:36Kevin. Nope. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. First, we will welcome the League of Women Voters to accept the resolution. Take a photo with us. So if you would like to come and say a few words, you can do that here at the podium. Thank you so much. As League of Women Voters, we will continue to fight for women's rights in Utah and the nation.

1:35:05And that means the Equal Rights Amendment, which we actually believe is the law of the land now. But let me just say that we will also fight for all of the rights of our voters. And we are continuing to do that now. Just know you should all have a voice in your elections. You do. And thank you very much. Thank you, Catherine. If you come join us up here, we'd love to get a picture with you.

1:35:32Good to see you. Thank you. All right. Now we will move on to item A6. Mayor Mendenhall will present recommendations to the City Council on the uses of federal housing and community grants for the coming year. These include funds for community development block grants or CDBG, emergency shelter grants or ESG, the home investment partnerships program or home, and the housing opportunities for persons with AIDS or Hoppe.

1:37:05Mayor Mendenhall, the time is yours. Thank you, Council Chair. Thank you, Council and Council staff. This is now my seventh year as mayor presenting my recommendations for the City's annual HUD community development grants. And may I just say in the year 2026, I'm so grateful that we still have CDBG dollars coming in.

1:37:26I also remember this annual process as a former City Council person. I am really proud of our city for supporting our residents and our service providers through a range of amazing and valuable activities and programs. Some of which couldn't happen without these precious dollars. This year, I'm excited to also present the City's annual funding, our future housing opportunity or FOF, because we like acronyms awards.

1:37:54This will be the first year of this FOF process accompanying the HUD allocation grants. The City's annual HUD and FOF allocations are an opportunity for us to provide direct services to our city's residents who are principally low to moderate income, vulnerable, and often historically underserved populations and neighborhoods.

1:38:19The HUD funding that the City will receive this upcoming fiscal year, FY 2027, includes the regular CDBG ESG home and HOP grants, as you mentioned, Council. Federal increases in funding that support the preservation and creation of affordable housing and increases in more equitable opportunities, such as home and CDBG funding, will be particularly important as the cost of living remains at an all time high.

1:38:48The FY 2026 funding our future program, set aside by the Council, will also help cover rising housing costs for clients. The following recommendations advance many of our City's goals that are listed in our five-year HUD consolidated plan, which include affordable housing, homeless services, transportation, community services, and business and workforce development.

1:39:15These recommendations also advance the City's housing SLC goals, specifically increasing housing stability and increasing home ownership and equity. This year's recommendations include agency projects such as assists, inks, emergency home repair and accessibility program, which helps local homeowners make their homes safer and more accessible.

1:39:38And the Salt Lake City Housing Stability Division's Fix the Bricks program, which preserves affordable housing in Salt Lake City by strengthening unreinforced masonry buildings against future earthquakes, such as we had in 2020. So I present these recommendations to you for your review and your ultimate final determination.

1:39:59I know these are hard decisions. This also begins our public comment process on my recommendations with the public hearing scheduled for March 24th. And I hope that residents of Salt Lake City and the applicants who you'll be considering will weigh in and provide their feedback on these recommendations. My appreciation goes out each year to our resident advisory board for their many, many volunteer hours in reviewing and scrutinizing the applications that the City received for this funding and for providing their meticulously derived scores for this limited funding.

1:40:35I wish we could fund all of the applications, but these tough decisions were put before our volunteer resident board, myself, and now to you City Council. I also want to express my thanks to our City's Housing Stability Division staff for facilitating this annual process and providing technical expertise on these funds.

1:40:56Thank you, Council Chair. And I look forward to seeing all the good things that these funds are going to do in our community. Thank you, Mayor Mendenhall. All right. That brings us to the public hearing section of our agenda. Now, these are specific proposals before the Council that require a public hearing, different than our general public hearing portion, which is at the end of the meeting.

1:41:31For this hearing, your comments must relate to the topic that you're speaking on, which is in the public hearing items that we'll announce one at a time as we move through the agenda. If you're on Zoom, please unmute your mic when your name is called. Each person will have two minutes. When she reached the two minute mark, the host will announce time and your microphone will be muted.

1:41:56We will call names in order to sign up. So if you hear your name called, that means you're on deck to speak next. If you need staff assistance in the room, please raise your hand and someone will come and help you. If you're having technical issues on the Zoom or you need any other assistance, message, staff support, and Akshay from our staff will help you.

1:42:20If you're unable to finish your comment in the two minutes, please share the rest of your comments via email, mail, or by calling our office. Contact information is listed on slc.gov.counsel. If you have a handout for the Council, please notify staff. They'll assist you in distributing those and bringing them up to us.

1:42:41Okay. I think that covers all the rules. So let's go ahead and start with our first items. We're going to hear the first items, B1 through B5. Those are all grant applications. So we're going to bundle them all together and hear those at once. But before we turn, or before we start taking those comments, I'll turn the time over briefly to Sylvia Richards, Council policy analyst, to give us a short introduction of these grant applications.

1:43:17Thank you, Mr. Chair. The City periodically applies for and receives grants which fund some city programs. Each grant will receive a public hearing which will give the Council and the public an opportunity to learn more about the grants. First is the Environmental Protection Agency Brownsfields 2026 grant. And if awarded, the grant would fund the asbestos remediation portion of the Northwest Pipeline Building Rehabilitation.

1:43:50Second is the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Competitive Program grant. And if awarded, the grant would fund supplies, contracts, travel, and training costs. Third is the Salt Lake City Justice Court Strategic Planning and Case Flow Technical Assistance Grant. If awarded, the grant would fund technical assistance from the National Center for State Courts.

1:44:17Anticipated outcomes include the development of a strategic plan, a year-run operational plan, and an evaluation of the calendaring and case processing practices, resulting in a case flow management recommendations. Fourth is the Sister Cities International US Japan Global Impact Grant. And if awarded, the grant would fund travel costs for Salt Lake City delegation to Matsumoto, Japan.

1:44:45The grant would also fund workshops and roundtable discussions with stakeholders to develop a tourism model that sustains community benefits from the Olympic Games, both short and long term. Fifth is the Fiscal Year 2027 per capita Bureau of Emergency Medical Services Grant. And if awarded, it would fund medical supplies used in providing emergency medical services to the public. Thank you.

1:45:14Thank you. Thank you, Celia. All right, let's go ahead and start with our first public comment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You do not have anyone registered to speak to these items. All right. Then I will look for a motion. Mr. Chair, I move that the Council close the public hearing and refer items B1 through B5 to a future consent agenda for action.

1:45:39Second. The motion from Council member Young and a second from Council member Lopez Chavez. Is there any discussion to this motion? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and proceed to a vote. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. We will go ahead and move to our next public hearing item. Item B6 is for an ordinance for the Rio Grande Master Plan and Zoning Map Amendentment before we take public comments.

1:46:14So in the time over to Kate Wear it from Council policy analysts to give us a short introduction. Thanks, Kate. Great. Thank you. The Council will accept public comment during this public hearing and consider adopting an ordinance tonight or in the future that would amend the zoning for 32 properties located in the Rio Grande district between 200 south and 400 south, also between 500 west and 600 west. This project is located within Council district number two.

1:46:44The state rezone would change the properties from GMU or Gateway mixed use district to D4 or downtown secondary central business district. The proposal would allow for additional building height and it would also the proposal would also amend the downtown plan to include the mid lock walkways within the Rio Grande district and update the implementation plan.

1:47:11Thank you. All right. Let's go to our first public comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have about nine people register to speak to this item. The first will be in Canada followed by David Went and then Frederick Jenny. And you may now unmute. Hello, and the family here. District two. I just want to comment about the Rio Grande plan to better the tracks. I think that, especially for the district, you'd be really beneficial to.

1:47:43Push for that plan. I'm sure we're going to hear more details about it for other commenters. But, you know, all that land will be opened up and that can all be developed. Further. So, yeah, I think you guys should. I think you made a body recommended it, but, you know, figuring out how to work with. The Utah Department of Transportation and push the plan along.

1:48:09Thanks. Thank you. And next will be David Went followed by Frederick Jenny and then Matt Givens David is here in person. Hello, my name is David Went. I'm here to comment on agenda item B six, the Rio Grande district rezoning. So, as you can imagine, I happen to be a fan of the Rio Grande plan, which is the idea that we're going to bury the rails.

1:48:41And when I heard that you were going to rezone the Rio Grande district or surrounding the Rio Grande station, I thought, this could be a very good thing for the plan. However, there is still a need to keep it compatible with the plan. So, ideally, we would want to have a rezoning that does not add any additional impediments to bearing the rails.

1:49:08Ideally, if we could, for example, deal with the utilities that are currently on 500 West, if those could be moved in some way, it would reduce the cost of the plan and make it easier to implement. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next will be Frederick Jenny followed by Matt Givens and then Owen Mitchell, Frederick's here in person.

1:49:31Hi there, everyone. My name is Frederick Jenny. I've been a resident of district four for nine years now, crazy. I'm here to support the D four rezoning of the Rio Grande district, but I urge you to formally integrate the Rio Grande plans, train box into this ordinance's implementation strategy, like the green loop already is.

1:49:52The 1998 gateway specific plan made it clear rail road consolidation is what made this neighborhood feasible in the first place. Yet 30 years later, the city's own document still described these surface tracks as a no man's land and a neglected backdoor space. While this new ordinance addresses the buildings, it leaves the no man's land in place.

1:50:14We must adopt the train box to fix this after a century of neglect with a unified neighborhood. This ordinance sets a priority for compact walkable blocks, but the 400 South viaduct and surface tracks make it make true walkability impossible. We should not settle for walking under a bridge when we could be walking on a restored city street.

1:50:35Furthermore, the city has promised to daylight city creek for nearly 30 years. You simply cannot restore a natural habitat or champion of green loop where freight trains currently run. Finally, the 1998 plan envisioned this area as the city's primary orientation point for transit. Currently, our transit is split and peripheral.

1:50:55By supporting the Rio Grande plan, we return passenger rail to the historic Rio Grande depot, creating the world-class multi-modal hub and vision decades ago. At the same time, we will turn a barrier, the depot, into an asset. I ask the council and the mayor to view the train box as the 21st century completion of the work started in 1998.

1:51:16Please do not just rezone the surface, fix the infrastructure that remains the single biggest obstacle in our city's cohesion. Thank you. Thank you. Next will be Matt Kivens, followed by Owen Mitchell and then Raymond Flores. Matt, I see you're in person. Hello. I want to echo what the other conners said, but I also wanted to say that I support the upzoning of this area, and I think it's remarkable that it works with the Rio Grande plan.

1:51:51On 5th West, that would thread the needle there. I know that the city council in 1998 did adopt language that said 500 west should be preserved underground for future transit. I think it's interesting and me and somebody else was thinking about this back then. And I think what's interesting about these two blocks is that for 20 years or 30 years, nothing has really worked.

1:52:18And I think it's because of the lack of access to the location, which is kind of ironic, considering it's by the main train station. And that's, I think, because there's barriers on all side, and one of them is actually a train station. So I would like to see the Rio Grande district plan and a Salt Lake Central station replan, because the public hasn't been able to comment on Salt Lake Central since at least 2018 in any kind of formal way.

1:52:50I'd like to see that addressed too. Support the upzone, I think it's a perfect use, but I'm not sure that it's going to work as well as it could without the Rio Grande plan. Thank you. Next is Owen Mitchell, followed by Raymond Flores, and then Will Metz, Owen's here in person. Hello, my name is Owen Mitchell, and I'm here today to speak in support of the Rio Grande district zoning ordinance.

1:53:17And I'm a resident of District 5. This upzoning will provide much needed density and economic investment in the heart of our city. To ensure the Rio Grande district becomes the vibrant addition to our community envisioned by this council, I strongly encourage them to adopt the Rio Grande plan, including the preservation of the 500 rest right away for below-grade rail transportation as is consistent with the 2019 Salt Lake City Council Member Policy Manual and the 1998 Gateway specific plan.

1:53:45To the district's implementation strategy. Without the Rio Grande plan, other priorities, such as the mayor's green loop, would be unfeasible due to existing infrastructure, such as the presence of I-15 on ramps. I look forward to seeing this district developed with new homes, businesses, and institutional investments, and I hope that this council will include the historic Rio Grande depot as a vibrant community hub at the heart of it.

1:54:14Thank you. Thank you. Next will be Raymond Flores followed by Will Metz and then Porter Warren. Raymond is here in person. Thank you, Council. I just want to reiterate from what my friends and colleagues have said that the Rio Grande plan should remain an important part of the rezoning of the Rio Grande district. And while I do support the rezoning as it currently is, I do want to just voice my opinion and say that the Rio Grande should be brought into consideration for that rezoning as well.

1:54:44Thank you.

1:54:49And next will be Will Metz followed by Porter Warren and then Andrew Kapsofertkis. Will you may now unmute. Hi, I'm Will and I live in Sugar House and I don't know as many specific details as some other people, but I am in support of this. And I also am a fan of the Rio Grande plan. I have been to cities like Reno and so on.

1:55:15And the train box in those cities, if that train box wasn't there, that part of the city would feel so disconnected and just not part of it. And I seeing the Rio Grande district as it is, I can't imagine anything where it would be just not perfect without if it didn't, it wouldn't be perfect without the train box. And I'm thinking also, I keep seeing the reports of the Utah Olympic delegates going to Italy and seeing these incredible train stations and incredible city centers that really demonstrate why this is an incredible place.

1:55:56And I think Utah would just be really benefited to have something like that for Salt Lake City where we can say, oh, so look at this incredible hub city and how incredible it has. It is as an Olympic hub. Thank you. Thank you. Next will be Porter Warren followed by Andrew Katsuo-Hirakis. Porter, you may now unmute. Porter, you there?

1:56:39Okay, let's go ahead and go to Andrew. And then if Porter, if you come back, we'll take your comment after Andrews. Go ahead. Hi, my name is Andrew Katsuo-Hirakis. I don't want to repeat too much of what my peers and colleagues have said, but I too am in support of the Rio Grande district rezoning with the, of course, condition in caveat that we.

1:57:02Plan it in a way that accommodates for and allows for the future construction of the Rio Grande plan. Upzoning is essential for the downtown core of the city. We need a lot more housing. We need more density here. And in the same way that upzoning solves a major equity issue, the lack of housing, the Rio Grande plan helps all the major equity issue as well.

1:57:20The East West disconnect of our city. So again, like my colleagues, I urge you guys to support that. And I also would like it on the record that after lots of advocacy and dialogue that we other citizens and volunteers had with the CRA last year, we had received a verbal commitment that the CRA would be looking at the Rio Grande plan more and would even include some more token language in the planning publications and documents for the Rio Grande district.

1:57:45So we hope that you keep that in mind. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Porter? All right. I think we lost Porter. Okay. Anyone else wish to speak to this item? Okay. I'll look for motion. Mr. Chair, I move that the Council close the public hearing and defer actions to a future meeting. All right. The motion. Is there a second?

1:58:14Second. I have a motion from Council Member Dugan, a second from Council Member Pietro. Any discussion? Seeing that. Oh, Council Member Lopez-Chabas, go ahead. Yeah. I just wanted to say thank you to those that came to advocate for the Rio Grande plan. I know that on the CRA side of the house, we've been working to both acknowledge and incorporate it into our documents.

1:58:34So I look forward to future discussions on this because I think we have a great opportunity here. And I appreciate the time that you've taken to come speak to us today. All right. Any other comments? Mr. Chair? Yes. You know, there is, I appreciate as well the passion behind this project. Council Member Dugan has been the biggest advocate for this issue.

1:58:58He was, you know, we have a nickname for the project and the name set after him. And, you know, some people call the Dugan ditch, but, you know, there is different other names for it that accomplish the same goals. But ultimately, the city is supportive of, generally, personally, I'm supportive of the dream. I made it very clear over the years that I am.

1:59:23Ultimately, the city doesn't have the funding for this because I'm the authority to do a lot of the things that this project wants to accomplish. And, you know, we want to make sure that the right people are making those decisions, but I don't think the select city should be stopping it. And that's where we fit. So I think Council Member Dugan has been working on a letter and I want to acknowledge the work that he's been putting on that, which I think soon is going to come up.

1:59:55So thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay. Go ahead and vote. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. It sounded unanimous. We'll go ahead and move on to.

2:00:17Agenda item B7, which is an ordinance for fence and hedge height text amendments. Before we begin taking comments, I'll turn the time over to Brian Fulmer, Council Policy Analyst to give us a short introduction to this item. Thank you. This item consists of two text amendments related to fence and hedge heights. The first amendment was initiated by the Council in January 2025 and called for increasing the hedge height in front yards to six feet.

2:00:48It would also increase the maximum fence height in back yards to seven feet. Planning staff recommended moving hedges to the landscaping and buffer section of city code and defining them as landscaping. This would not restrict their height, but require them to be maintained. The second amendment was initiated by the Planning Commission to extend the maximum six foot front yard fence height in the M1 zoning district within the international center to all properties in the M1 and M1A zoning district citywide, except for those that abut or are across the street from zoning districts that allow residential uses.

2:01:29Thank you, Brian. We'll go ahead and take our first public comment on this item. So chair, there are three people registered to speak to this item. The first will be Cindy Kromer followed by Derek Dyer and then Susan Klinker. Cindy is here in person. Hi, my name is Cindy Kromer and I just want to provide some information about the historic areas of the city.

2:01:55Front yard fencing was actually pretty uncommon. And when it occurred, it was much lower than what we consider necessary now. So I went F while you while we're meeting in your work session. I dashed over to South Temple and measured a fence that appeared to be original. And it was a whopping 41 inches tall at the top.

2:02:22And then I measured one of my own properties, a hoop and dart original iron fence. And it was actually less than three feet at the top of the hoops. And the normal post measured a whopping 41 inches. So I have fences in the front yard at two properties. There is no evidence in the tax records, the tax photographs that there were fences at my other properties.

2:02:48And so these fences are actually to borrow a phrase from the planners, a product of our own time when they are in historic districts. And I just ask you as you change fencing heights, certainly the one in the M1 and M1A is very warranted. But when you're in a residential district and it's a historic district, remember that they were either not there at all or they were much lower.

2:03:16Thanks. Thank you. Next is Derek Dyer followed by Susan Cleanker. Derek is here in person. And I'm the executive director of the Utah Arts Alliance. Speaking about the historic art castle at 915 West 100 South. The art castle is a 125 year old historic building that we are restoring as a community arts and cultural center.

2:03:42As part of this project, we're developing a public sculpture garden that features several important works, including those by renowned west side artists Raphael Policia. Pieces that are truly irreplaceable works of art. Our goal for this sculpture garden is that it's open to the public during the day. But like many cultural facilities, we also have to secure the property at night to protect both the historic building and the artwork from vandalism or theft.

2:04:08Under the current zoning ordinance, fencing in street facing areas of mixed use zones is limited to four feet, even for non-residential cultural facilities. While that standard works for residential front yards, it does not provide adequate security for places responsible for protecting historic buildings and valuable pieces of art.

2:04:27As we've worked with city staff to try to resolve this issue, we've been told that there's currently no mechanism in the code to allow for six foot fence in this situation. And the only real solution would be updating the ordinance itself. We were also advised that pursuing a variance would likely never succeed and would simply be a waste of time and resources as no variance has ever been approved ever.

2:04:49The city similar in size to Salt Lake City already recognized the need for secure enclosures around civic and cultural sites. For example, Seattle allows six foot fencing around cultural, institutional and non-residential properties, including community facilities. Portland allows up to seven feet around properties, including cultural and institution sites.

2:05:09Denver allows six foot fences around non-residential properties, commonly how museums, churches and schools secure outdoor areas. These cities recognize that schools, recreation centers, churches and cultural facilities must balance between public access and responsible security. My request tonight is simple. Please consider amending the zoning ordinance to allow six foot fences.

2:05:32Thank you. I think we've received that. But any other comments that you didn't get to finish your welcome to email to us. Thank you. And next will be Susan Klinker who is here in person. My name is Susan Klinker, District 7. And I support the proposed tax amendments in particular, not regulating hedges within the same ordinance as walls and fences, but instead regulating them under the landscaping section of the ordinance.

2:06:12This, the proposed changes increases allowable hedge height for homeowners and has the potential to increase the overall level of vegetation within the city. So it expands the urban canopy and wildlife habitat, especially for birds. It can improve our air quality and reduce our urban heat island effects. And considering this issue, I'd also like to note the really high number of hedge violations currently found across the city, which are only enforced by complaint.