Decision to rezone cemetery reasonable

Eliot Brinton (My View, April 28) attacks the recent decision by a two-thirds majority of the City Council to rezone two-thirds of the land owned by Mount Olivet Cemetery and intended for sale to Rowland Hall-St. Mark's, calling it a "backward approach." Mr. Brinton is, of course, entitled to his opinion, and there are deeply felt and emotionally charged feelings on both sides of this issue. What the council did, however, was make a reasonable decision based on the relevant facts.

First, not all "open space" is created equal. The open space zone should not be confused with open space per se. Under the city's open space zone, structures can be built. It does not guarantee it will be open land. For instance, immediately to the west of this property is the East High football stadium, track and adjoining parking lot — all of which is zoned open space. Private recreation centers and even electrical substations are also allowed in Salt Lake City's open space zone.

Under Mount Olivet's ownership and under the current zoning, a mausoleum, mortuary or even crematorium with parking lots could be built on the Sunnyside Avenue frontage of this "open space" without any permission needed by the City Council. This would block views and arguably have more negative impacts on the residences than what is allowed by the council's action.

What we did was rezone the northern two-thirds of the property as well as put restrictions on the entire property. Now (presuming other contingencies are met that allow the sale to Rowland Hall to proceed) more than four acres on the southern portion of the property will forever be real open space as the use is limited to athletic fields, and restrictions are in place to prohibit any structures or even illumination of the fields. These restrictions will remain with the land if it is ever sold again. A school will be built on the northern end of the property, immediately to the west of the current Rowland Hall campus.

Under the agreement approved by the council, public access and use is guaranteed to the fields and to two trails that will be constructed on the property. One trail will go from east to west along Sunnyside Avenue, and another from south to north providing pedestrian access from south — for the first time — to Mount Olivet Cemetery. Guarantees are provided for protecting view corridors. Additional restrictions are included on the portion rezoned for construction of a school to maximize green space. What the council approved will provide more permanent protections for neighbors than they had with open space zoning alone.

Finally, each of these very important improvements benefiting the surrounding neighborhoods will be done with private dollars, allowing more of the few, precious dollars available for open space preservation to benefit many other areas of the city.