Thank you for your continued interest in the City Council's process to “fine-tune” the Riparian Corridor ordinance.

The Council has appreciated the ongoing written public comment and encourages those with suggestions / ideas / recommendations on fine-tuning the ordinance to provide written comment throughout this process -- it will be provided to the consultant as well as to Council Members and made a part of the formal record on this issue.

Following is a brief update on actions to date and upcoming steps:

      A consultant has been retained and has examined the public records including the ordinance, Planning Commission staff reports, public comment records including information presented at hearings as well as written information provided to the Council Office via formal letter, electronic mail, fax, internet feedback, etc. This same consultant completed a review of Salt Lake City's ordinances and regulations associated with foothill development and slope regulations.  While completing that review riparian issues were raised -- providing the consultant prolonged exposure to the issues at hand. 

      The consultant is Christopher J. Duerksen, JD, with Clarion Associates.  Clarion Associates is a national land-use consulting firm.  The firm specializes in land use and urban planning, design, land use law, and real estate economics.  The firm has represented both private and public sector clients.  Chris is Chairman of the Board of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, University of Denver, Sturm College of Law.  Further information on the firm can be obtained at: http://www.clarionassociates.com/

      The consultant has met with small groups of citizens with varied interests in a 'focus group' format to allow for the consultant to hear various perspectives first hand.  The consultant has had an initial tour of various portions of the stream corridor as an orientation, as well as, examined maps and associated City documentation.

      An additional set of focus group meetings will be held on April 7 and possibly April 8. If you are interested in attending one of the focus group meetings please let the City Council Office know by calling Amber Nielson at 535-7600 or leave us a message with your phone number and email address on the 24-hour Council comment line at 535-7654.

      We anticipate that we will be able to include all interested parties but if the interested number of people is more than can be accommodated in a focus group setting we will contact those who have expressed interest to see whether various groups want to select a few representatives to present their points. The goal is to allow for adequate time in the focus group meetings for all participants to convey their position to the consultant and hear others' perspectives.

      The Council will be briefed on April 8. (It will be televised on cable channel 17.  It will be available on the internet live as well as after the fact. The Council Office will provide DVD or CD copies upon request).  Please contact the Council Office at 535-7600 for an estimate of the time that the briefing will be held. 

      We will be mailing out an information sheet in mid-April to all property owners abutting stream corridors and individuals who have expressed interest.  The information sheet will also be available on the City Council's web page: http://www.slcgov.com/council/

      The consultant expects to have a 'diagnosis' document relating to fine-tuning the ordinance available for public review and comment by about May 21. It will be posted on the City Council's web site and will be emailed to all parties who receive this email. If you know of someone who would like to be added to our email list please email the Council Office or call us at 535-7600.

Other Important Dates:

June 10. Council briefing by consultant. (It will be televised on cable channel 17.  It will be available on the internet live as well as after the fact. The Council Office will provide DVD or CD copies upon request)

June 11 Public briefing / open house.

June 23 Draft fine-tuning ordinance will be available for public review and comment.  It will be available and distributed the same way as the diagnosis document.

July 1. Public hearing before the City Council

July 8 Formal Council consideration.

Again, the Council appreciates and encourages written comment throughout this process. In addition, each City Council meeting includes a public comment section where 2 minute comments can be presented in a public setting. Written documents and photos are also invited at this time as a supplement to the verbal comment.

Upcoming City Council meetings include:

April 1

April 8

April 15

May 6

May 13

May 20

June 3

June 10

Please contact the Council 24 hours in advance to confirm the meeting time. Staff can let you know about other hearings scheduled for that night so that you can judge your arrival time. All of the formal Council meetings will begin at 7 p.m.

Again, thank you for your interest. We have shared here all of the information that is currently available. Please feel free to forward this message to others who may be interested.

Thank You,

Janice Jardine

Land Use Policy Analyst

Office of the Salt Lake City Council

535-7614