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07/29/2002 - Minutes (2) PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH MONDAY, JULY 29, 2002 The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, met in Regular Session on Monday, July 29, 2002 at 6:00 p.m. in Room 315, City Council Chambers, City County Building, 451 South State. The following Council Members were present: Carlton Christensen Van Turner Eric Jergensen Jill Remington Love Nancy Saxton Dale Lambert The following Councilmember was absent: Dave Buhler Rocky Fluhart, Chief Administration Officer; Steven Allred, Acting City Attorney; Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; and Beverly Jones, Deputy City Recorder were present. Councilmember Christensen presided at and conducted the meeting. PUBLIC HEARINGS #1. RE: Accept public comment and consider adopting ordinances pertaining to construction of intermodal railway terminal freight facilities: View Attachment A. ) Amending the Salt Lake City Zoning Code to allow railroad freight terminal facilities in Light Manufacturing (M-1) zoning districts pursuant to Petition No. 400- 02-26. B. ) Rezoning property located at approximately 800 South 5600 West from General Commercial (CG) to Light Manufacturing (M-1) pursuant to Petition No. 400-02-07. C. ) Amending the Salt Lake City Transportation Master Plan and closing and abandoning a portion of 4800 West pursuant to Petition No. 400-02-07. ACTION: Councilmember Turner moved and Councilmember Jergensen seconded to close the public hearing, which motion carried, all members present voted aye. Councilmember Love moved and Councilmember Jergensen seconded to adopt Ordinance 52 of 2002 amending the Salt Lake City Transportation Master Plan and closing and abandoning a portion of 4800 West with the following amendments: Under Section 2, Subparagraph B, delete the following language, "Union Pacific Railroad must agree to follow a future crossing of the spur line for the future road connecting 4400 West to 4800 West", and under Section 2 include a subparagraph to provide the builders of any railroad freight terminal facility included in the rezoned property shall implement and enhance landscaping plans approved by the Salt Lake City Planning Director that would buffer properties next to the facility' s front, rear and side yard. The plan shall include existing railroad track as part of the railroad freight terminal, which motion carried, all members present voted aye except Councilmember Turner who voted nay. Councilmember Love moved and Councilmember Lambert seconded to adopt Ordinance 50 of 2002 with an amendment to include the addition of specific location criteria which would not permit a railroad freight terminal facility to be located within a five mile radius of any existing railroad freight terminal. I further move that the Council request the Administration to include in the upcoming zoning ordinance fine tuning process an amendment to the manufacturing M-2 zone to include the same specific 02 - 1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH MONDAY, DULY 29, 2002 location criteria, which motion carried, all members present voted aye, except Councilmember Turner who voted nay. Councilmember Love moved and Councilmember Jergensen seconded to adopt Ordinance 51 of 2002 rezoning property located at approximately 800 South 5600 West from General Commercial (CG) to Light Manufacturing (M-1) , which motion carried, all members present voted aye except Councilmember Turner who voted nay. Councilmember Love moved and Councilmember Lambert seconded to adopt the following Legislative Intents: It is the intent of the City Council that the Administration continue to encourage Union Pacific to discontinue or reduce rail traffic on the 900 South line; that the Administration continue its negotiations with Union Pacific to mitigate the effect of freight train traffic on Union Pacific' s 900 South line including a reduction in freight train traffic, particularly eliminating freight train traffic from evening until morning; that the Administration explore with Union Pacific ways to facilitate the straightening of the Grant' s Tower curve to facilitate increased frequency of freight train traffic through that area and alleviate the need for freight train traffic on Union Pacific's 900 South Line; and that the Administration initiate a planning process to prepare a master plan for the area from the Interstate I-215 freeway west to the western City boundary and from North Temple south to the southern City boundary, which motion carried, all members present voted aye. DISCUSSION: Davis County Commissioner Dan McConkie said he was Chair of the Wasatch Front Regional Council. He said the Regional Council represented Tooele, Salt Lake, Davis, Morgan and Weber Counties and approximately 52 cities within that area. He said they were a planning organization and tried to look into the future to help solve problems dealing with transit and transportation. He said they supported commuter rail and the intermodal freight facility. Dave Uhrich said he was Assistant Vice President of Real Estate for Union Pacific Railroad. He introduced Jeff Verhaal from Union Pacific. Mr. Uhrich said they were sensitive to the appearance of facilities in the neighborhood. He said they had proposed enhanced landscaping in all areas adjacent to public streets. Mr. Verhaal said in the vicinity of the mainline, they were concerned about landscaping because the root system could grow into the foundation. He said they tried to limit vegetation which could grow up or around power lines. Mr. Uhrich said Union Pacific had an agreement with MCI which addressed what happened when the railroad had projects which could affect MCI's cable. P.D. Kiser, Parsons Corporation, said they performed a traffic impact analysis for the proposed Union Pacific facility. He said he was available to answer any questions. J. Michael Clara, Salt Lake City, asked the Council to hold the west Salt Lake community with the same esteem they had demonstrated in protecting the life and soul of Main Street. Janette Gonzales, Salt Lake City, said it was becoming more difficult to live in Utah. She said when Union Pacific reactivated the 900 South line, everyone else got the Olympics and they got trains in their neighborhoods. She said she was opposed to the intermodal freight terminal. Milton Braselton, Salt Lake City, said with a new freight intermodal would provide Union Pacific more space and versatility. He said he disagreed with Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) assumptions that commuter rail had to be built next to Union Pacific. 02 - 2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH MONDAY, JULY 29, 2002 He said the old Rio Grande mainline could be rehabilitated. Mark Smedley, Chair of the Poplar Grove Community Council, said he was concerned about the process which took place to accomplish the rezoning. He said Union Pacific did not tell the community council they wanted to change the zoning on thousands of acres of property. He said he felt City staff should have given the community council a briefing on what acreage would be affected and in what way. He said he had asked numerous times how the facility would affect train traffic through Grant's Tower. He said Union Pacific had not supplied that information. Cullin Battle, Attorney for Western Metals Recycling, said his client' s property was located to the east of the project. He said businesses in the area depended on the at-grade rail crossing which existed on 4400 West. He said Western Metals Recycling was not opposed to the facility. He said they were concerned about trains backing up across 4400 West and blocking access to retail customers. He asked the Council to ensure that reasonable measures would be taken to avoid undue delays caused by rail operations within the yard. Ed Huffman, MCl/WorldCom, said they were not against the proposal. He said they wanted conditions to protect their interest. He said they had been located in the area for approximately eight to ten years. He said they had a major communication junction facility for telecommunication equipment. John Inglish, Utah Transit Authority, said the opportunity to acquire corridors along the Wasatch Front was extraordinary when a person considered the direction transportation was going. Councilmember Christensen said the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) required no more than a 5-minute delay on 5600 West. P.D. Kiser said there would be additional delay at 4400 West because most of the switching operation would occur at the east end. He said this was a 24-hour a day operation. He said having train activity spread out would lessen the impact. Councilmember Christensen asked if there was an estimation of delay time. Mr. Kiser said delay would be approximately five to ten minutes. He said there would be less train traffic on the mainline after the new facility was built. Councilmember Saxton asked if trains would be stacking to get unloaded. Mr. Kiser said trains would be slowing down to come into the facility and stop. He said trains could already be in the storage tracks. He said one train could be 5,000 to 8,000 feet in length. Councilmember Saxton asked if this became a problem who would be responsible to build an overpass. Mr. Kiser said it was a City street so the City would have to initiate an overpass. Councilmember Jergensen asked if there would be more vibration in the area. Mr. Verhaal said the new operation would not cause more vibration. Councilmember Jergensen asked that someone from Union Pacific meet with MCI to discuss the vibration issue. Councilmember Lambert asked about the concerns Mark Smedley, Chair of the Poplar Grove Community Council, had concerning the planning process and the expansion of the M-1 zone. Doug Wheelwright said he had met with Mr. Smedley. He said the Poplar Grove Community Council had not understood the full implication when Union Pacific made their presentation at the community council meeting. He said the community council was opposed to the facility because of 900 South issues. Mr. Wheelwright said Mr. Smedley's argument was that Planning Staff should have 02 - 3 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH MONDAY, JULY 29, 2002 told the community council that to fully implement the project, rezoning of property and text changes were needed. He said Mr. Smedley was concerned that the text change allowed a rail freight facility as a conditional use in the M-1 zone. He said the current ordinance only allowed a rail freight facility as a conditional use in an M-2 zone. He said that conditional use had a large implication on their planning community because so much of the community contained M-1 property. He said the way the current citizen participation process was structured, an application for conditional use approval to the Planning Commission required that a briefing be given to the affected community council prior to application to the Planning Office. Mr. Wheelwright said they had proposed a spacing requirement in the text change of the proposed ordinance which stated "conditional use approval was a possibility for a rail facility in an M-1 zone provided it was at least five miles away from any other existing facility." He said that would indirectly address the issue. Councilmember Saxton asked what landscaping was required in M-1 zoning. Mr. Wheelwright said the only landscaping required in an M-1 zone was the first 15 feet adjacent to a City street. He said there was no side or rear landscaping requirements. He said in all other directions of the lot, buildings, storage or fences could be built right up to the property line. Councilmember Saxton asked if landscaping included a certain number of trees or vegetation. Mr. Wheelwright said he did not believe landscaping called for anything but grass. He said there was internal parking lot requirements for trees. Councilmember Jergensen asked what an emergency situation would be where the intermodal freight facility would increase use of the 900 South line. Mr. Verhaal said if train tracks were taken out by something such as a flood then trains in the immediate area would need to be cleared out on the 900 South line. He said then trains could be rerouted to other locations. Councilmember Love said from a public policy and legal standpoint, the Council could not condition the approval of zoning at this site on improvements at another site. She said by adding legislative intent language to the motion and by working with UTA and Union Pacific to tighten the language in the agreement, they had addressed future traffic on 900 South. She said the intent language let the Administration know of the Council' s will. She said it also let Union Pacific know the City's overriding concern for the neighborhood at 900 South and the City's desire to solve the problem. Councilmember Love said some people opposed to the zoning change had suggested that the Council had rushed the petition through. She said the initial petition was filed January 18, 2002. She said the petition had gone to community councils, the Planning Commission twice, the Council had held two public hearings and three briefings. She said there had been a lot of opportunity for public input. She said she moved approval of the ordinances because she felt it was an appropriate zoning change. She said this use was not like other uses in the M-1 and M-2 zones and the proposed amendment fit with existing development in the immediate area. She said it was good use of the property because the property was landlocked between two railroad tracks. She said it would increase the City's revenue, spur economic development in the area and increase jobs. She said she felt the Council could not leverage commuter rail in order to solve the problem on 900 South. Councilmember Lambert said he understood why Poplar Grove residents were angry about rail traffic on 900 South. He said he hoped the issue could be resolved. He said he felt the freight terminal would not increase rail traffic on 900 South. He said he felt the facility would not adversely affect the neighborhood. He said the 02 - 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH MONDAY, JULY 29, 2002 City had an opportunity to enhance the livability of communities in the City by advancing and encouraging commuter and light rail. He said he supported the motions and the legislative intents. Councilmember Saxton said she was concerned about the five-mile radius text change because in the future, the City might want all freight facilities located in one area. She said she supported the motions. Councilmember Jergensen said he felt the City and the community needed to move towards mass transit. He said the City needed to do something about overuse of vehicles. He encouraged Commissioner McConkie as Chairman of the Wasatch Front Regional Council to talk seriously about light rail in South Davis County. He said as much as the Council wanted to link the issues of an intermodal freight facility at 5600 West to a resolution of the railroad use at 900 South, there was no possible way to unite the two issues. He said he supported the motions. Councilmember Turner said there had been a lot of impact in his community. He said the railroad divided the neighborhoods. He said property owners in the west were not receptive to a freight terminal. He said in his neighborhood this year the 900 South rail line had been activated because of the Olympics, Union Pacific had proposed a freight intermodal facility, and nuclear waste would be coming through their area for the next 38 years. He said he was opposed to the three ordinances, but would support the legislative intents. Councilmember Christensen said he felt Council had come up with fair and equitable compromises. He said it might make sense at some point to consolidate all rail freight intermodals, but he wanted to see how this facility worked first. He said by putting a five-mile radius around the property it would force the issue back to the Council. He said he supported the additional landscaping requirements. CONSENT AGENDA ACTION: Councilmember Turner moved and Councilmember Jergensen seconded to adopt the Consent Agenda, which motion carried, all members present voted aye. #1. RE: Approving the appointment of Dr. Geoffrey Brugger to the Sister Cities Board for a term extending through July 5, 2004. (I 02-18) #2. RE: Approving the appointment of Margaret Yee to the Sister Cities Board for a term extending through July 4, 2005. (I 02-18) #3. RE: Approving the appointment of Donald Hartley to the City and County Building Conservancy and Use Committee for a term extending through July 1, 2006. (I 02-12) The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m. bj 02 - 5