The LDS Church's controversial proposal to split and remove granite boulders from Little Cottonwood Canyon has been given the go-ahead.
The Salt Lake County Planning Commission Tuesday approved the application of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to remove about 11,000 tons of granite from a site it owns 1 1/2 miles above the mouth of the canyon.The stone will be used to face the church's large new assembly hall, now under construction just north of Temple Square. Stone from the same site was used 100 years ago to build the Salt Lake LDS Temple.
Reaction to the decision:
"We feel good" - assembly hall project manager Tom Hanson.
"Devastated" - nearby resident Karen Cunningham.
Notwithstanding Cunningham's feelings, most opponents of the project were largely mollified by the church's assurances that it would minimize the project's environmental impacts, as well as by the large number of conditions the Planning Commission placed on its approval of the application.
Among the more unusual of the conditions: a time limit. The approval extends only to June 1, 2000, though the church may apply for an extension.
The commission also reserved the right to place additional conditions on the approval, something akin to using one of your three genie wishes to wish for more wishes.
"The conditions on this approval are extensive and perhaps unprecedented," said planning commissioner Bruce Jones.
Project opponents were concerned primarily about two things: that the church would be able to use the site forever, and that the church wouldn't adequately revegetate and rehabilitate the hillside after the operation's completion.
Regarding rehabilitation, another condition to approval was that county planning staff would have to approve the church's restoration plan, which must include regrading, replacing some boulders, and revegetating with both seed and plants.
Granite Community Council Chairwoman Cassandra Hansen said she was happy about that condition, though she noted that mature trees removed by the op-er-a-tion will not be completely replaced for years.
The church plans to have a lower "staging area" next to the canyon's main road, in which workers can park their cars and equipment can be stored. Workers will build a 600-foot-long road, running from the lower staging area to an upper staging area, and a 200-foot-long road, running from the upper staging area to the rock fall.
Approval conditions included lessening the width of the two roads and even eliminating the upper road, should it be found that there would be less environmental impact by just running equipment over the ground.
Some project opponents said the church had made significant concessions since a March 10 public hearing on the issue. Hanson, however, said the project as approved was pretty much what the church had asked for in the first place and that an understanding was reached mostly by people getting the information they needed.
"A lot of folks didn't do their homework," he said.
Part of the problem was that residents felt they had been "blindsided," in the words of Allen Sanderson, a rock climber who frequents the area, by not getting sufficient notice initially.
"I feel a lot better," he said. "There were a lot of problems with the information just getting out."
Opponents have 10 days to appeal the decision to the County Commission. Most of those attending Tuesday's meeting said they had no plans to do so (although it only takes one), either because they were satisfied with the result or because they felt an appeal would do no good since the county has generally viewed the application as a reasonable one.