014 of 2020 - City Council Policy and Objectives for Preparing Master PlansRESOLUTION _____ OF 2020
DECLARING CITY COUNCIL POLICY AND OBJECTIVES
FOR PREPARING MASTER PLANS
WHEREAS, the City Council has always earnestly regarded its legislative duty to adopt
policies and ordinances to address the present and future needs of the city and to guide growth
and development within the city; and
WHEREAS, Council Members are active in their communities and are often contacted by
constituents with concerns and ideas that may be relevant to include in the master planning
process; early input opportunities allow Council Members to incorporate this feedback as well as
concerns of the Council Members so that those items can be considered to the extent possible as
part of the public input process; negative consequences to deferring that input until a final draft is
complete include possible delays of adoption or additional Planning Commission review; and
WHEREAS, in furtherance of this duty the City Council has adopted plans of differing
types, such as the citywide general plan and other master plans, area plans, policy plans, element
plans, and specific plans, as well as any other plan or portion of plan relating to purposes
described in Utah Code 10-9a-401 (collectively “master plans”); and
WHEREAS, to help guide the master planning process and promote the purpose of that
process, the City Council desires to outline and summarize the policies and processes that should
be used to establish goals, outcomes, and timelines for each master plan; and
WHEREAS, this resolution is intended to identify City Council expectations, clarify roles
and responsibilities, and establish a consistent master planning process; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds adoption of this resolution reasonably furthers the
transparency efforts of Salt Lake City, enhances a collective approach for development of master
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plans, improves engagement opportunities with city residents, and promotes the health, safety,
and general welfare of the citizens of Salt Lake City.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved by the City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah that:
A. The City Council hereby adopts the following policies:
1. The master plan process will allow for City Council policy input to be included early
in the process so that such input can be incorporated into broad community outreach efforts. The
process should also include an opportunity for the City Council to receive updates and provide
feedback at various points in the process.
2. City-wide policy statements should be included in the City-wide plan rather than
duplicating them in localized master plans.
3. The master plan process should be streamlined to reduce the amount of time needed to
prepare such plans, while not compromising public process or input opportunities.
4. Master plans should be action-oriented and user-friendly (simple, easy to read, and
reference) so they can inform the development process and make the City’s policies more
predictable and understandable.
5. Master plans should be used as a resource and implementation tool for the capital
improvement process and funding requests as part of the annual budget and budget amendments
should be more closely tied to what is reflected in adopted master plans. Furthermore, in keeping
with the City Council’s addition of a position and budget for a staff person to facilitate the
capital improvement process, the Administration should specifically designate a position to
coordinate the inclusion of master plan priorities into the City’s annual budget and capital
improvement program budget.
6. Regardless of the name of a document, if it is a planning tool that will require future
City policy guidance, it will not be categorized as an administrative document.
7. The public process for developing master plans should:
a. Continue to broaden public input;
b. Reach traditionally under-represented communities and interest groups to better
represent the diversity of the City;
c. Retain and enhance participation from the community; and
d. Include items suggested through public input or other parts of the process that
are not ultimately included in proposed plans for the convenience of policy makers and
the public who want to understand policy shifts.
8. Development of master plans should use technology in creative ways.
B. With the foregoing policies in mind, the City Council hereby declares its master
plan process expectations as follows:
1. Master plans include any plan or portion of plan relating to purposes described in Utah
Code 10-9a-401, and should consist in part of the following types:
a. General Plan
i. Sets direction;
ii. Big picture; long term vision, high level orientation; and
iii. Considers city as a whole.
b. Element Plans
i. “Place” or “system” based;
ii. Describes how each system relates to the general plan;
iii. Describes how each community relates to the city as a whole;
iv. Examples: community, housing, parks and recreation, open space,
transit, infrastructure, transportation, conservation and management plans.
c. Specific Area Plans
i. Project specific with detail;
ii. Examples: 9th and 9th plan, Sugar House Greenway Plan.
2. The master plan process should consist of the following steps, or similar steps that
preserve the opportunity for check-in with the City Council throughout the process:
a.Planning preparation
i. Activities
(1) Establish needs, scope of work, and timeline;
(2) Identify stakeholders, including but not limited to, the City
Council, residents, businesses, Salt Lake City recognized community
organizations, and other special interest and public interest
groups/organizations.
(3) Assemble working groups as necessary.
ii. Deliverables
(1) Scope and work plan;
(2) Project budget;
(3) Timeline;
(4) Potential barriers that may impact scope, budget, or timeline.
iii. Council role
(1) Receive briefing on deliverables;
(2) Confirm (or modify) scope of work through adoption of a
resolution.
b.Assess existing conditions
i. Activities
(1) Data gathering;
(2) Trend analysis;
(3) Long-term indicators;
(4) Existing policies;
(5) Frame policy questions.
ii. Deliverables
(1) Existing plans and policies report;
(2) Trend analysis report;
(3) Public engagement calendar;
(4) Framing document.
iii. Council role
(1) Receive report and written executive summary of deliverables;
(2) Review calendar and framing document.
c.Public engagement
i. Activities
(1) Obtain Public Input;
(2) Review existing policies;
(3) Establish public values;
(4) Establish metrics;
(5) Establish a vision.
ii. Deliverables
(1) Vision statement;
(2) Metrics.
iii. Council role
(1) Support public engagement process;
(2) Approve metrics.
d.Draft plan
i. Activities
(1) Create policies;
(2) Establish metric action items;
(3) Integrate city policies;
(4) Interdepartmental review;
(5) Public review.
ii. Deliverables
(1) Draft plan;
(2) Implementation steps.
iii. Council role
(1) Receive briefing on draft plan prior to Planning Commission
hearing and recommendation.
e.Adoption
i. Activities
(1) Create final draft;
(2) Planning Commission public hearing;
(3) Complete administrative process with Mayor recommendation;
(4) Transmit complete proposed master plan including all
supporting and required documentation to City Council in a single
transmittal.
(5) City Council review and adoption process
ii. Deliverables
(1) Planning Commission recommendation;
(2) Planning staff context memorandum;
(3) Mayor recommendation memorandum.
iii. Council role
(1) Conduct Council adoption process, including public hearing
and additional public outreach.
f.Implementation
i. Activities
(i) Identify implementation projects;
(ii) Establish consistent, city-wide coordination process for all
plans.
(iii) Establish consistent implementation strategies using the city
operating budget, capital improvement program, CDBG program, and
others.
ii. Deliverables
(i) Project priority list;
(ii) Coordination and implementation strategy.
iii. Council role
(i) Approve project priority list;
(ii) Consider related budget actions.
Passed by the City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah this ___ day of _____________,
2020.
______________________________________
CHRIS WHARTON, CHAIR
ATTEST:
_________________________
CITY RECORDER
APPROVED AS TO FORM
Salt Lake City Attorney’s Office
Date:__________________________________
By: ___________________________________
Paul C. Nielson, Senior City Attorney
Paul Nielson (May 14, 2020 14:13 MDT)
May 14, 2020
May19
ASSISTANT
Chris Wharton (May 29, 2020 12:43 MDT)
Chris Wharton
Kory Solorio (Jun 1, 2020 09:10 MDT)
Kory Solorio