Millcreek steps nearer limits on 'monster homes'

One more step on a long path to new zoning measures aimed at limiting "monster home" construction in Millcreek Township was completed last Monday night as the Millcreek Planning Commission heard public testimony on a proposal that will soon be headed for the Salt Lake County Council.

After first surfacing in February 2007, the decision of how to, or whether to, adjust zoning restrictions in the four east-side communities that comprise the Millcreek Township has polarized the approximately 62,000 who call the area home.

East Millcreek resident Robert Gallagher told the board that about 18 months ago, the first oversize home was constructed in his neighborhood and now there are four houses that he said are inappropriate and out of scale for the area. After being told by a planning official that nothing could be done after a permit was issued, Gallagher expressed some frustration with the process of addressing the issue.

"I feel like an ancient Greek, walking up the ponderous path to Mount Olympus to petition the gods," Gallagher said.

Of the 80 or so people attending the meeting, dozens testified before the commission. And for every weigh-in like Gallagher's, there was an anti-restriction position taken.

Curtis Dowdle, an official from the Salt Lake Builders Association, said the process of upscaling neighborhoods by building new, larger modern homes where small, older homes once stood was a process of regentrification that he characterized as a positive change.

"Happy day, it's a very good thing," Dowdle said. "This is one of the best things that can happen in housing."

The proposed new zoning requirements created by the commission draw on existing new construction and infill ordinances in place in Salt Lake City and Holladay. They impose height restrictions and minimum easements on side lots, as well as requisite set-back distances and formulas that allow only a certain percentage of a lot to be occupied by a home and outbuildings. There are also options within the ordinance that allow for exceptions to the restrictions that take into account the relative sizes of other homes proximate to the new construction.

Salt Lake County Planner Tom Schafer said the current proposal is the culmination of two years of work that began with a call for wide-ranging input from residents, architects, developers and planners back in 2007, and has evolved to the current document — put together by the commission with that initial information and requests for modification that have come from ongoing hearings. Still, the zoning changes now on the table continue to be met with criticism from both proponents of more stringent size limitations and those who feel the current rules are appropriate.

Schafer said community councils representing the four neighborhoods of the township — Mount Olympus, East Millcreek, Millcreek and Canyon Rim — which were given their own individual hearings with the commission, have split in their support of the proposal. East Millcreek and Canyon Rim have declined supporting the changes, though both councils ruled so on close votes, while the Millcreek and Mount Olympus boards favor the changes.

The planning commission will have one more chance to alter the proposed rules before it is handed off to the Salt Lake County Council for further public hearing and consideration. Approval by the County Council is necessary for implementation of the new regulations.

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