05/02/2017 - Work Session - Minutes MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, MAY 2 , 2017
The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at
2 : 11 p.m. in Room 326, Committee Room, City County Building, 451
South State Street.
In Attendance: Council Members Andrew Johnston, Derek Kitchen,
Stan Penfold, Erin Mendenhall, and Lisa Adams .
Absent: Council Members James Rogers and Charlie Luke.
Staff in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Council Executive
Director; Jennifer Bruno, Council Deputy Director; Jacqueline
Biskupski, Mayor; Patrick Leary, Mayor' s Chief of Staff; David
Litvack, Mayor' s Deputy Chief of Staff; Margaret Plane, City
Attorney; Nick Tarbet, Council Senior Policy Analyst; Mary Beth
Thompson, Finance Director; David Gellner, Principal Planner;
Benjamin Luedtke, Council Constituent Liaison; Julio Garcia, Human
Resources Director; Melissa Jensen, Housing and Neighborhood
Development Division Director; Michaela Oktay, Planning Manager;
Anthony Rieder, Principal Planner; Kelsey Lindquist, Associate
Planner; Pete Higgins, Airport Operations Director; Tim Doubt,
Deputy Police Chief; Jennifer Seelig, Mayor' s Community Relations
Director; Lehua Weaver, Council Associate Deputy Director; Michael
Akerlow, Community and Neighborhoods Deputy Director; and Kory
Solorio, Assistant City Recorder.
Guests in Attendance: Brett Okland, Zoning Applicant (Item 3) ;
Alec Harwin, Zoning Applicant (Item 4) ; Suzette Eaton, Zoning
Applicant (Item 5) ; Michael Wilson, Metropolitan Water District
General Manager; Michael Reese, Metropolitan Water District, Water
Systems Operator, and Tom Godfrey, Metropolitan Water District
Board Chair.
Councilmember Penfold presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 2 : 11 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS
#1 . 2:11:55PM DISCUSSION REGARDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING, A COUNCIL
PRIORITY, AND MAY PROVIDE ADDITIONAL DIRECTION ON NEXT STEPS FOR
STAFF TO WORK ON IN THE COMING MONTHS. Each January, the Council
selects a few topics on which to focus and make significant
progress during the coming year. Affordable housing, homelessness,
economic development and stable funding for streets are the
Council's priorities for 2017. View Attachments
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MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
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Nick Tarbet, Melissa Jensen, and Michael Akerlow briefed the
Council with attachments . Discussion was held regarding how the
City' s building approval process affects affordability costs,
potential of tracking development fee waivers (permits, licensing,
etc. ) for recognition of housing subsidies, coupling a variance to
allow non-related people to rent multi-bedroom homes and include
off-street parking (and different kinds of mitigation measures) ,
contemplation of improving older housing stock (apartments, homes,
etc. ) rather than building affordable housing, how to directly
connect people employed in the City with affordable City housing,
current housing stock data related to demographics, marketing
component to assist potential home buyers in determining
cost/value benefits of buying in the City, status of the City' s
current/future affordable housing crisis mode, data to support the
effects of Airbnb/Short Term Rentals/Accessory Dwelling Units on
affordable housing, and Airbnb remittance fees .
Councilmember Penfold asked Staff if any information was
needed from the Council to move forward. Ms . Jensen indicated
initial feedback would be helpful in allowing Staff to contemplate
and be prepared to answer questions at the next briefing.
Councilmember Mendenhall asked if it would be helpful to
formalize the request to seek opportunities for convergence of
affordable housing for people employed in the City, economic
connection stimulation, and affordable housing investments .
Ms . Gust-Jenson stated Staff incorporated an inventory (into
their reports) of items Council Members raised on a regular basis .
She said it would be helpful to have the Council' s feedback (what
the Council supports) in more detail than would be captured in the
general policy statements . She indicated a straw poll would be
helpful at some point because the affordable housing plan was going
forward at the same time funding was available.
Councilmember Kitchen said it might be appropriate for the
Council to establish a goal addressing the current affordable
housing deficit of 7, 500 units for those at 400 or below the Area
Median Income (AMI) and try to fill the gap.
Councilmember Penfold instructed the Council to inform Mr.
Tarbet if they had additional comments for follow-up (in particular
if they needed information) . He acknowledged he had the
concern/perception (as other Council Members) that somehow the
City was going to fix affordability and he did not think it was
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financially possible.
Council Members requested the following items from Staff:
• Follow-up on data for current housing stock.
• Explore opportunities to partner with developers to impact
affordability on a larger scale.
#2 . 2:58:40PM MID-YEAR BRIEFING FROM THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT.
As part of last year's budget discussions, the Council formally
requested briefings with each of the City's new or interim
department directors. These meetings have been scheduled
throughout the coming months. Each director has been asked to
comment on new events or accomplishments, unexpected issues
affecting their department's budget, changes in service delivery
or new initiatives, and how they might use a significant new budget
allocation, if one were available. View Attachments
Mary Beth Thompson, Mayor Biskupski, and Patrick Leary
briefed the Council with attachments . Discussion was held
regarding new software system funding, fraud/waste/abuse trends,
difference between waste/abuse, utilization/tracking of hotline
activity; inclusion of hotline feedback with the bye-annual
citizen survey, investigative turnaround time, time frame to
implement the projects software for funding, status of homeless
services accounting shift, and different risk levels/audits .
Council Members requested the following item from Staff:
• Provide the difference between the initial risk intake
appraisals and follow-up with a breakdown of how risk levels
were re-rated.
#3 . 3:20:58PM BRIEFING REGARDING A PROPOSAL TO REZONE AND AMEND
THE ZONING MAP FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1978 SOUTH WEST TEMPLE
PURSUANT TO PETITION NOS. PLNPCM2016-00935 AND PLNPCM2016-00936 .
Under the proposal, a portion of the property would be rezoned
from RMF-35 Residential Multi-Family to CG General Commercial, and
amend the Central Community Master Plan Future Land Use Map. The
proposed changes would allow Okland Construction, which owns the
property, to expand the existing office building and parking lot.
View Attachments
Nick Tarbet, David Gellner, and Brett Okland briefed the
Council with attachments . Discussion was held regarding balancing
the residential street scape with intensive commercial building,
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future potential re-zone of other neighboring parcels, current
zoning, set-back requirements, question if a new building or an
addition to the existing building was proposed, and zoning/parking
requirements .
Councilmember Adams disclosed she lived next door to the
applicant and supported the proposal .
#4 . 3:36:12PM BRIEFING REGARDING AN ORDINANCE THAT WOULD REZONE
SIX PARCELS LOCATED AT 527-559 EAST 2100 SOUTH STREET FROM
COMMUNITY BUSINESS DISTRICT (CB) TO RESIDENTIAL/MIXED USE DISTRICT
(R-MU-35) , AND AMEND THE CENTRAL COMMUNITY MASTER PLAN FUTURE LAND
USE MAP PURSUANT TO PETITION NOS. PLNPCM2016-00080 AND PLNPCM2016-
00081 . The proposed changes would allow the parcels to be developed
as a multi-unit, mixed use structure with height and density
greater than what is currently found on site. View Attachments
Nick Tarbet, Michaela Oktay, Anthony Riederer, and Alec
Harwin briefed the Council with attachments . Comments included
height issues, advantages of zoning change, building restrictions,
applicant adjusted proposal based on community input, and
residential mixed-use project with retail on the ground floor.
Councilmember Penfold said a public hearing would be
scheduled for May 23, 2017 with potential action on June 6, 2017 .
#5 . 3:42:12PM BRIEFING REGARDING AN ORDINANCE THAT WOULD REZONE
A PROPERTY AT 350 EAST 800 SOUTH FROM LOW DENSITY MULTI-FAMILY
RESIDENTIAL (RMF-30) TO NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL DISTRICT (CN) AND
AMEND THE CENTRAL COMMUNITY MASTER PLAN FUTURE LAND USE MAP
PURSUANT TO PETITION NOS. PLNPCM2016-00659 AND PLNPCM2016-00660 .
The property has historically been used for commercial uses, and
was considered a non-conforming use. The last business license
issued for the property dates back to 2009, so the property is
considered to have abandoned its non-conforming use. The intent of
the proposed rezone is to re-establish a commercial use without
being restricted by a nonconforming classification. View
Attachments
Nick Tarbet, Michaela Oktay, Kelsey Lindquist, and Susette
Egan briefed the Council with attachments . Comments included non-
conforming commercial use under current zoning, square footage
restrictions, historic preservation, and mixed-use residential and
small commercial .
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MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
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Councilmember Penfold said a public hearing would be
scheduled for May 23, 2017 with potential action on June 6, 2017 .
5:34:20PM NOTE: Items 6-8 interviews were combined.
#6 . INTERVIEW CATHY STOKES PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF HER
APPOINTMENT TO THE LIBRARY BOARD FOR A TERM EXTENDING THROUGH JUNE
30 , 2018 . View Attachments
Councilmember Penfold said Ms . Stokes' name was on the Consent
Agenda for formal consideration .
#7 . INTERVIEW LUCIANO MARZULLI PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF HIS
APPOINTMENT TO THE LIBRARY BOARD FOR A TERM EXTENDING THROUGH JUNE
30 , 2018 . View Attachments
Councilmember Penfold said Mr. Marzulli' s name was on the
Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#8 . INTERVIEW DANIEL MAGPALI PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF HIS
APPOINTMENT TO THE LIBRARY BOARD FOR A TERM EXTENDING THROUGH JUNE
30 , 2019 . View Attachments
Councilmember Penfold said Mr. Magpali' s name was on the
Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#9. 5:44:23PM BRIEFING REGARDING THE PROPOSED METROPOLITAN WATER
DISTRICT (MWD) BUDGET FOR FY 2017-18 . View Attachments
Lehua Weaver, Michael Wilson, Michael Reese, and Tom Godfrey
briefed the Council with attachments . Comments included multiple
partnerships involved in water distribution, aqueduct right-of-
way management, infrastructure needs, 5% rate increase/ten-year
forecast, fixed water rate structure, stable revenue stream, debt
service management, rate strategies, significant increase to MWD
fund balance, aging infrastructure, capital projects funding,
utilize asset management program, pay-as-you-go concept, ongoing
maintenance, role of property taxes, and educating the public about
proposed increases .
Councilmember Penfold said it was important for the public to
understand the water rate shown on utility bills included MWD fee
increases .
Discussion was held on the projected growth of reserve funds
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in the MWD budget ($5 . 6 to $13 . 5 million in 2018) . Councilmember
Mendenhall asked how high the reserve fund would be allowed to
increase before funds would be used for capital projects . Mr.
Wilson said approximately $25 million.
Councilmember Penfold said it would be helpful for Council to
receive a 10-year projection showing annual fund balance growth
and a proposed timeline for when those funds would be spent to
construct capital projects (including cost estimates for each
project) .
Further discussion was held on generating revenue through
property taxes versus rate increases . Comments included 23%
revenue generation through property taxes, finding a balanced
approach, equity/fairness issues, disproportionate burden, study
conducted on property tax alternatives, public policy issue, and
municipal authority to impose property taxes .
#10 . 6:15:10PM INTERVIEW JOAN DEGIORGIO PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION
OF HER APPOINTMENT TO THE METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT BOARD.
Councilmember Penfold said Ms . DeGiorgio' s name would be
placed on a future Consent Agenda for formal consideration .
#11 . 5:24:11 PM REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INCLUDING A
REVIEW OF COUNCIL INFORMATION ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Council
may give feedback or staff direction on any item related to City
Council business, including but not limited to scheduling items.
See File M 17-5 for announcements .
#12 . REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
No discussion was held.
#13 . 3:49:09PM CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION,
IN KEEPING WITH UTAH CODE §52-4-205 ANY ALLOWED PURPOSE .
Councilmember Adams moved and Councilmember Johnston seconded
to enter into Closed Session to discuss strategy sessions to
discuss collective bargaining pursuant to Utah Code §52-4-
205 (1) (b) . A roll call vote was taken. Council Members Mendenhall,
Adams, Johnston, Kitchen, and Penfold voted aye . See File M 17-2
for Sworn Statements .
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MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, MAY 2 , 2017
In Attendance : Council Members Mendenhall, Adams, Johnston,
Kitchen, and Penfold.
Absent: Council Members Luke and Rogers .
Others in Attendance : Cindy Gust-Jenson, Jennifer Bruno, David
Litvack, Patrick Leary, Lehua Weaver, Margaret Plane, Jennifer
Seelig, Benjamin Luedtke, Julio Garcia, Pete Higgins, Tim Doubt,
and Kory Solorio.
The closed session adjourned at 4 : 31 p .m.
The work session meeting adjourned at 6 : 20 p .m.
COUNCIL CHAIR
CITY RECORDER
This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript
as other items may have been discussed; please refer to the audio
or video for entire content.
This document along with the digital recording constitute the
official minutes of the City Council Work Session meeting held May
2, 2017 .
ks
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