Snapshots of rocks tumbling down steep retaining walls along with stories of sinkholes, rock slides, fires and floods helped turn the tide in favor of Salt Lake County's latest foothills downzoning.
After two hours of impassioned debate and discussion, the County Commission voted unanimously Wednesday night to severely limit development on about 1,273 acres of hillside from Big Cottonwood Canyon to Little Cottonwood Canyon.The vote rescinds zoning decisions made in the 1960s and '70s that allowed residential construction on lots as small as 8,000 square feet far up the Twin Peaks slopes. With a few exceptions, the new zoning applies FR-20 zoning along the hillsides, restricting development to 20-acre lots.
For Larry E. Walker, the largest private landowner in the area, the new zoning reduces the development potential on his 329 acres from 106 homes to about 30, which he calls a "tremendous kick in the pocketbook."
While Walker acknowledged that the downzoning was appropriate for "90 percent" of the area, he argued that three parcels near existing subdivisions are suitable for FR-1 to FR-5 zoning, permitting up to eight additional homes on his land.
But those three parcels also attracted the attention of downzone proponents, who demanded they be left within the FR-20 designation. Representatives of the Golden Hills/Top of the World Neighborhood Association warned they would withdraw their support of the downzoning if the parcels were excluded.
Calling the FR-20 zoning "prudent and acceptable," association co-chairman Fred Holt said, "It would be foolhardy to accept anything less."
Dr. George C. Pingree, who has lived in the Golden Hills community for 21 years, said more development in areas suffering from poor water pressure, the threat of wildfire and narrow access roads could spell disaster.
Area resident Terry Ring raised the earthquake issue, saying many of the more than 600 homes already on the hillside sit atop a dangerous fault zone. It wouldn't be safe to put more homes farther up the slopes, he said, especially as some of them could end up against an exposed fault line.
Unstable ground, landslides and drainage concerned resident Martha Frankovich, who 10 years ago watched two sinkholes swallow several chunks of her back yard. She said one of the proposed lots under the existing zoning would be on top of an abandoned mine shaft and underground spring.
"This is a very, very geologically hazardous area," Frankovich said, adding that a real estate agent had once advised her to sell her home and move out.
Though those and other arguments clearly impressed the commissioners, a series of photographs appeared to have the greatest impact. Presented by the neighborhood association, the pictures showed huge houses perched atop precarious retaining walls in the Benchmark area of east Salt Lake City. Rocks from the walls had slid down to the road below.
Another photograph showed repairs being made on a residential retaining wall in the county foothills after a huge boulder from the wall tumbled down to a neighbor's yard.
"After seeing what's happened in Salt Lake City, you can see why we're downzoning our foothills," said Commission Chairman Jim Bradley. "We're trying to bring reason to development."
Commissioner Randy Horiuchi said the downzoning is "in the best public policy interest." And Commissioner Brent Overson added that planners had dealt fairly with all the issues, including Walker's concerns.
Citing lack of access as the primary reason, the commission voted not to exclude Walker's three parcels from the downzoning.
They based their vote on a Planning Commission recommendation that said the existing zoning doesn't reflect the actual development potential. In a letter to the County Commission, Planning Commission Chairman David Brems also said the rezoning is consistent with that applied to other foothill areas.
He was referring to an unprecedented downzoning sequence that began last year on the slopes of Grandeur Peak from Parleys Canyon to Mill Creek Canyon, followed by the foothills from Mill Creek to 5300 South and 5300 South to Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Commissioners expect to take up the last segment, from Little Cottonwood Canyon to the county's southern border, next year.