Planners, City Creek on different paths

Response from planning commissioners indicates that a majority of them do not believe they approved paving patterns or materials for the project — especially if they run contrary to city standards.

"I don't think it even crossed our minds," said Kathy Scott, planning commissioner. "If we were approving something like that, we would have talked about the materials. We never talked about materials."

Sullivan said developers submitted plans over a period of about a year that consistently showed a distinctive pattern running from the interior of the project onto public sidewalks.

"During this entire process, (city planners) did not tell us that they didn't like our paving plan," he said. "Staff did not tell us that the paving plan could not extend into the public right of way, even though every drawing we submitted over a year showed the paving pattern."

Paterson disputed that claim, saying staff from the very beginning of the approval process informed the developers of city paving standards.

The city standards also affect the developers' plans to construct pylons at each side of Main Street to highlight the mid-block crosswalk between South Temple and 100 South. The developers are proposing to include the City Creek Center logo and name on the pillars, which would qualify them as signs and prohibit them from being in the public right of way.

The developers are asking the city attorney's office to determine whether the Planning Commission has the authority to overrule city staff on the design elements. Even if it's determined the Planning Commission can make those decisions, it's unclear whether it would do so.

City Creek Center is a 20-acre private development project of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The project will bring a mix of retail, residential and office space to the two-block area bordered by West Temple, South Temple, State Street and 100 South.

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