Salt Lake nails down rules on home building

The Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday approved new citywide zoning rules for most residential zoning districts, aimed at curbing the construction of "monster homes" in some of Utah's most beloved and historic neighborhoods.

The council approved the measure unanimously, assuring the ordinance is veto-proof. Mayor Rocky Anderson on Tuesday did raise some questions about whether the rules were too restrictive but did not say he would reject them.

"It's really prohibitive," Anderson said of a requirement that would only allow people to build structures on 40 percent of their lots.

The mayor estimated his home covered 60 to 70 percent of his lot since his home takes up most of his back yard.

"Somebody can design a renovation so that it fits very well in the neighborhood and it eats up a lot of the back yard and it's not going to hurt anybody," he said. "Why impose a large back yard on someone?"

City resident Mark Cook agreed.

"Tonight you're going to take approximately half of my property rights," he told the council. "Why start taking civil liberties away?"

Cook, echoing an argument two west-side councilmen have made, said it was strange to make the restrictions citywide when it seemed only a few vocal neighborhoods wanted the restrictions.

But Councilman Dave Buhler noted there was some give and take, and the council had reached a compromise.

"Everybody's going to be unhappy and hopefully some people will be happy," he said. "There's not a perfect answer."

Councilwoman Jill Remington Love maintained the new rules would allow families to expand while protecting residents from neighbors who want to tear down small historic homes and replace them with giant behemoths that block views and look ugly.

"We have to have room for families and we have to have room for people to stay here," Councilman Dale Lambert said, adding the new ordinance "does allow for expansion to accommodate large families."

Besides limiting people to building on only 40 percent of their lots, the new rules prohibit over-the-counter building permits for homes higher than 28 feet. Homes could be higher, but home owners would have to go through a public process, including a public hearing. Also, homes could be as high as the three tallest homes on the same block face.

The council, then, allowed residents to be able to build two-story homes without facing the daunting task of a public hearing process.

In a few areas, however, the rules are more strict.