Although heliports and unlimited building heights are no longer in the proposal to rezone the city blocks surrounding the Delta Center and the Salt Palace Convention Center, buildings as tall as 600 feet could still be coming to the area.
The zoning change is part of the redevelopment of downtown Salt Lake City as proposed by the Smith Entertainment Group. The group owns the Utah Jazz and the new Utah Hockey Club and is aided by nearly $1 billion in public funds by way of a sales tax increase that was endorsed by the city council in July.
“This is one more step in a process that feels super accelerated, and I think for all parties involved, maybe very stressful at times,” said Councilor Darin Mano. “But I'm really excited for, hopefully, what this means for downtown.”
The original proposal didn’t get a recommendation from the planning commission in June so SEG and the city’s planning department went back to the drawing board. Highlights of the new proposal include a 600-foot maximum building height, modifying building setback requirements and extending the Delta Center’s sign overlay to cover the surrounding blocks.
While 600 feet may sound tall, it still falls short of the unlimited building heights allowed in other zones in the downtown core. Still, the tallest building in the city is the new 451-foot, 41-story Astra Tower.
The hangup for the council does not appear to be the building height, but rather when an additional level of review for tall buildings would be triggered. The council indicated it was firm on triggering a review by the planning commission for any building taller than 200 feet. The Smith Entertainment group wants the limit to be 250 feet.
“I just think that it'll be more beneficial to have that input from residents looking at it and residents applying those standards,” said Councilor Chris Wharton. “I think that for the purposes of this project and how significant it is going to be to our downtown, I would like to have that additional input from the residents.”
In a straw poll of councilors on Aug. 13, there was unanimous support for the revised elements of the rezone. Councilor Alejandro Puy was absent from the meeting.
Public comments at the council meeting on the changes were mixed. Some residents were concerned about the speed of the process. Others spoke in support of the proposal.
“We've got to go up,” said local business owner Jeff Carleton.
“As a city, we want walkable, shoppable streets with dining and entertainment opportunities. It's population density that supports the small businesses that occupy the ground levels of these complexes.”
Others, like Utah Symphony flutist and District 3 resident Mercedes Smith, are worried about the project getting special treatment from the city.
“We need more checks and balances, not fewer, especially when taxpayer money is going to a private company,” she told the council.
“I strongly urge you to require the development agreement go to the planning commission, no matter what. Hold SEG to the same rigorous process that nonbillionaires must undergo.”
While oversight is necessary on a project this big, Council Chair Victoria Petro said she had reservations about overworking the planning commission.
“I would like to see either if we are going to go to the planning commission a bundling of buildings so that a few at a time are being contemplated and not each individual structure,” she said. “Or I'd like to give [an] administrative review the green light for certain circumstances.”
The council could vote on a final version of the rezone on Aug. 27.
