Staff Report - all
1 August 8, 2024
PLANNING DIVISION
DEPARTMENT of COMMUNITY and NEIGHBORHOODS
Staff Report
To: Salt Lake City Planning Commission
From: Lara McLellan, Transportation Program and Policy Lead
lara.mclellan@slcgov.com, 801-535-7175
Date: October 9, 2024
Re: Granary District Area Plan
Application Type
PROPERTY ADDRESS: Granary District PARCEL ID: N/A
MASTER PLAN: N/A ZONING DISTRICT: Multiple
REQUEST:
The Transportation Division has created an areawide multimodal circulation plan for the Granary
District. The Plan, funded by a grant from the Wasatch Front Regional Council’s (WFRC) Transportation
and Land Use Connections (TLC) program, recommends transportation solutions designed to improve
connectivity, comfort, and safety for people walking, biking, rolling, and connecting to existing and future
transit in the Granary District. The Plan identifies short- and long-term projects for the area to provide
the Transportation Division with guidance when seeking funding for transportation improvements in the
area.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission forward a positive recommendation to the City Council
to adopt the Granary District Area Plan.
ATTACHMENTS:
A. ATTACHMENT A: Vicinity Map
B. ATTACHMENT B: Public Process & Comments
C. ATTACHMENT C: Granary District Area Plan
D. ATTACHMENT D: Public Comment Period Summary
PROJECT DESCRIPTION & BACKGROUND
The Granary District Area Plan is a planning effort that developed a multimodal circulation plan for the
Granary District. The Plan responded to development patterns, existing and future transit service, and
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right-of-way opportunities. Recommendations for this plan were driven by data analysis and community
input. Recommendations are tailored to be executed in the next 2 to 10 years, with a focus on attainable
improvements for intersections, midblock crossings, midblock streets, and corridors that can or are likely
to undergo significant change. The goal of these improvements is to facilitate resiliency in the
transportation system by creating convenient and safe transportation connections for people walking,
rolling, riding a bicycle, and accessing transit in the district.
Transportation needs in the district were identified using safety and crash data, existing and planned
projects, mobility tracking software for nonmotorized travel behavior, expected future land uses, and
demographic profiles. This information was paired with public, business, and developer input to create a
suite of recommended improvements.
The outreach process was facilitated in large part by the Granary District Alliance, an enthusiastic and
engaged group of business owners and stakeholders in the Granary District. They helped the project team
make connections with the local community, including residents and developers. The project team was
invited to participate in the first annual HoodahFest, a celebration of local businesses, artists, and
musicians, interacting with 200 attendees and receiving 150 public comments during the initial study
outreach phase. An online public survey collected an additional 278 input points from participants. The
study team engaged business owners and developers in an in-person session tailored to their interests to
discuss the Granary District Area Plan and the ongoing Techlink TRAX Study. The information gained
during this session and other conversations with developers helped inform study recommendations to
align private and public plans and goals.
The planning process began with assigning the recommended street typologies from the Salt Lake City
Street and Intersection Typologies Design Guide to each street section in the study area. The project team
then applied the typologies on a more granular level to consider neighborhood context and opportunities
and barriers along each corridor. Barriers along each street were identified, including right-of-way
constraints, existing public utilities, and safety considerations like driveway prevalence. Opportunities
for each street were also identified by focusing on key attributes of the street and the surrounding
environment that will contribute to the vision of the recommended street typology.
Gaps and barriers in the nonmotorized network were categorized into three types: spot gaps, network
gaps, and corridor barriers. Spot gaps are point-specific locations lacking facilities or treatments that
offer safe and comfortable pedestrian and bicycle travel. Network gaps refer to specific segments that lack
sidewalks or midblock street connections, causing nonmotorized users to go out of direction to get to
their destination. Corridor barriers were identified in this plan to determine the feasibility of
implementing the recommendations of the street typologies by comparing the existing conditions of each
corridor and their assigned street typology.
Using all this information, a priority projects matrix (p. 50 of the Plan) was then created. Proposed
criteria for evaluating and prioritizing projects included (but was not limited to) cost of improvement,
enhancements to the nonmotorized network, user comfort, maintenance impacts, and constructability.
Projects that scored the highest were put in the near-term improvements phase (2-4 years), while the
others that are more complex, costly, or do not meet criteria as well were recommended to advance in the
mid-term improvements phase (5-10 years). Not all needs identified in the development of the plan were
advanced into the prioritized matrix. The goal was to develop an achievable project list for the near-term
and mid-term.
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This Plan is intended to be used as one piece of a broader integrated effort between changing land uses,
development patterns, transit infrastructure, and service improvements across City departments and
through other agency partnerships to achieve a safe, accessible, and comfortable transportation network
for the district. As such, the Plan is intended for use by the Transportation Division, as well as the
Engineering, Streets and Planning Divisions. As streets are reconstructed or resurfaced and as the area
redevelops, this Plan will serve as the basis for right-of-way improvements.
APPROVAL PROCESS AND COMMISSION AUTHORITY
The Planning Commission may make a positive or negative recommendation to the City Council on the
proposed adoption of the Granary District Area Plan. The recommendation will be sent to City Council,
who will then hold a briefing and an additional public hearing on the Granary District Area Plan. The
City Council may make additional modifications to the proposed updated Plan before making a final
decision on the adoption of the Plan.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS
The key considerations listed below were identified through the analysis of the project:
1. How the Proposal Helps Implement City Goals & Policies Identified in Adopted Plans
Consideration 1: How the Proposal Helps Implement City Goals & Policies Identified in
Adopted Plans
Plan Salt Lake (2015)
Through implementation, the Granary District Area Plan will seek to operationalize several guiding
principles from Plan Salt Lake, including Neighborhoods, Growth, Transportation, Air Quality, Beautiful
City, Equity, and Economy. Especially relevant sections include: page 9 – Connectivity and Circulation
sums up the underlying foundation for the Plan; Chapter 2, initiatives 1-3, 7-8; Chapter 4, initiatives 1-5,
7, 9-10 & 12; Chapter 5, initiatives 1, 3, 4; Chapter 8, initiatives 7-8; Chapter 11, target 1 (decrease
combined cost of housing and transportation), initiatives 2, 3, 4; Chapter 12, initiatives 1, 2, 3 & 7; Chapter
13, initiatives 1-7, 10 & 12.
Citywide Transportation Plan (2024)
The Granary District Area Plan will help work toward several of the Key Moves from the 2024 adopted
Citywide Transportation Plan, such as 2.2: Create safer streets; 3.1: Improve pedestrian safety and
connectivity; 3.2: Expand low-stress bicycling networks and micromobility options; 7.2: Promote
connectivity at the block level to create walkable districts, 8.3: Use street typologies to guide Complete
Streets development, and more.
The Downtown Plan (2016)
The section on the Granary District in the 2016 Downtown Plan mentions “the wide streets with
relatively few cards provide opportunities for a new way of thinking about our streets as public spaces
that provide space for movement and public gathering.” Several of the proposed mid-block walkways
align with the recommendations in the Granary District Area Plan.
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Salt Lake City Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan (2015)
The goals of “integrate walking and bicycling into community planning to enhance livability, health,
transportation, the environment, and economic development” and “develop a safe, comfortable, and
attractive walking and bicycling network that connects people of all ages, abilities, and neighborhoods to
the places they want to go” from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan are well aligned with the
recommendations contained in the Granary District Area Plan.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission forward a positive recommendation to the City Council
to adopt the Granary District Area Plan.
NEXT STEPS
After Planning Commission makes a recommendation to the City Council, the Granary District Area Plan
will continue to the City Council for a final determination on the adoption of the plan.
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ATTACHMENT A: Vicinity Map
6 August 8, 2024
ATTACHMENT B: Public Process &
Comments
Public Notice, Meetings, Comments
The following is a list of public meetings that have been held and other public input opportunities
related to the Granary District Area Plan since the study process began:
• Late September – mid-November 2023 – Virtual survey for the study was open. It received
72 full responses and 206 comments left on the interactive map.
• September 30, 2023 – Project team attended HoodahFest in person in the Granary
District, interacting with 200 attendees and receiving 150 comments.
• December 12, 2023 – The project team organized a community event for Granary District
businesses and developers at Industry SLC. 36 different businesses and developers
attended the event.
• July 15 – August 30, 2024 – Draft plan was posted to the project website for public
comment.
• July 12, 2024
o Notice of the draft plan and public comment period was sent to all Community
Councils that intersect with the study area.
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ATTACHMENT C: Granary District Area Plan
The Plan can be found online at:
https://www.slc.gov/transportation/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/07/Granary-District-
Area-Plan_FINAL.pdf
The Plan’s website address is www.slc.gov/granaryplan
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ATTACHMENT D: Public Comment Period
Summary