Transmittal - 10/15/2021ERIN MENDENHALL
Mayor
CITY COUNCIL TRANSMITTAL
KRISTIN RIKER
Director, Public Lands Department
Date Received:
Lisa Shaffer, Chief Administrative Officer Date sent to Council:
TO: Salt Lake City Council DATE: September 10, 2021
Amy Fowler, Chair
FROM: Kristin Riker, Director, Public Lands Department
SUBJECT: Naming a New Arboretum in the Salt Lake City Cemetery as The Mark Smith Memorial
Arboretum in the Salt Lake City Cemetery
STAFF CONTACTS: Keith Van Otten, Public Lands, Lee Bollwinkel, Public Lands
DOCUMENT TYPE: Background Explanation
RECOMMENDATION: Notify Council of a proposed name per City Code Chapter 3.65
BUDGET IMPACT: None
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
A collection of 50 trees, at the Salt Lake City Cemetery, have been officially accredited as an arboretum
by Arbnet (a collaborative, international community of arboreta and tree care professionals).
Additionally, in June 2021 and September 2021, the Parks, Natural Lands, Urban Forestry, and Trails
Advisory Board voted unanimously in support of the Public Lands Department’s request to formally
name the arboretum: The Mark Smith Memorial Arboretum in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, named after
the late Sexton Mark Smith. Some of the highlights in Marks’s career and reasons for the request of this
designation include:
At 17 years working for Salt Lake City, Mark was the longest running Sexton for the largest municipal
city cemetery west of the Mississippi.
Mark coauthored the book: Images of America: Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Mark brought the cemetery to an unprecedented level of beauty through his vision and passion for the 121
acres site.
PUBLIC LANDS DEPARTMENT
1965 WEST 500 SOUTH
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84104
www.slc.gov/parks/
PHONE 801-972-7800
FAX 801-972-7847
9/15/2021
9/28/2021
Naming city assets is addressed in city code chapter 3.65. Section 3.65.020b classifies city assets as either
minor or major. Naming of minor assets is under the purview of the Mayor and is handled through a letter
to the Public Lands Department files. Major assets, including land regardless of acreage, requires Council
approval.
Public Lands forwarded to the Mayor a request to follow the process described in 3.65.020b[2], thereby
notifying her of the requested naming. The process then requires the Mayor to forward the request to the
Council for approval. The Council then has 15 business days to notify the Mayor if the Council wishes to
use a legislative process for naming an asset. If the Council does not respond or chooses not to exercise
this option, the Mayor may proceed with the naming just as she would with a minor asset.
To initiate the process, Public Lands is forwarding the attached letter from the Mayor to the Council
notifying them of the proposed naming.
ATTACHMENT:
A. Letter from the Mayor
Page 2 of 2
ATTACHMENT A
Letter from the Mayor
ERIN MENDENHALL
Mayor
September 3, 2021
Dear Council Members,
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
SLC Public Lands is requesting that the new arboretum located at the Salt Lake City Cemetery
be named The Mark Smith Memorial Arboretum in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. The land is
owned by Salt Lake City and managed as a cemetery and park by the Parks Division of Public
Lands. I support this request.
City Code Chapter 3.65 states that the Mayor may approve naming of minor assets. The Council
approves naming of major assets, which includes any acreage of land. The Council may choose
to approve the name change through a legislative process or defer the approval to my office.
Chapter 3.65 allows the council fifteen days to determine its course of action. If after fifteen
days, on September 3 2021, no action is taken, the naming decision reverts to the Mayor’s office.
Sincerely,
Mayor Erin Mendenhall
P.O. BOX 145474
451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 306
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84114-5474
WWW.SLCMAYOR.COM
TEL 801-535-7704