Salt Lake City curbs heights as it seeks new zoning for Smith's Ballpark redevelopment

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Salt Lake City Council supports lowering maximum building heights at Smith's Ballpark site.
• Zoning changes from MU-11 to MU-8 address residents' concerns about height impact.
• A public hearing on zoning for the site is expected next month.

SALT LAKE CITY — The old home of the Salt Lake Bees may not be quite as tall as previously envisioned, after Salt Lake City leaders signaled support for an adjustment to the area's proposed zoning.

Members of the Salt Lake City Council agreed on Tuesday to modify the city's "Ballpark Next" plan, adjusting all sections of the land marked for mixed-use district 11 (MU-11) to mixed-use district 8 (MU-8).

The adjustment doesn't change the city's vision for Smith's Ballpark, which calls for a partial demolition of the stadium to make way for mixed-use development across most of the 14.8-acre site. It just shrinks maximum building heights from 150 feet to 95 feet, following feedback from residents.

Concerns about adding to the neighborhood's heat island effect and building something that doesn't align with the zoning in the surrounding area, most of which is already a maximum of MU-8, were issues that resonated the most with city leaders, said Salt Lake City Council Vice Chair Erika Carlsen, whose district includes the Ballpark neighborhood.

"What I appreciate about MU-8 is that it balances density with the plan that was adopted by the (Community Reinvestment Agency)," she told KSL after the meeting.

The decision to modify the zoning was made after city planners briefed the City Council about the proposed new zoning at Smith's Ballpark.

It called for MU-11 zoning for most of the former ballpark, 77 W. 1300 South, along with the parking lot north of it. MU-11 would have generally allowed buildings up to 125 feet, with a maximum of 150 feet near the corner of 1300 South and West Temple.

Salt Lake City's planning commission endorsed the concept with a 5-2 vote in March, following a spirited discussion on the proposal, including pushback from leaders of the Ballpark Community Council and Ballpark Action Team, who attended the meeting.

Many spoke in support of more public green space, but building heights were also a concern.

"You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to say to a neighborhood, 'We heard you. We know what you need. You know what you need,'" said Fraser Nelson, co-chair of the Ballpark Action Team, in the meeting. "It is not more dense apartments that drown out the single-family homes. … We beg you to reduce our heat, to provide recreation for our children, to bring people to our neighborhood for events."

Debates between MU-11 and MU-8 were held in small-group meetings over the past few months, leading up to Tuesday's City Council work session. MU-8 generally allows for heights of 80 feet, with design reviews allowing up to 95 feet.

MU-11 would allow for additional density and housing, which is why it was considered, but the overall vision for the old ballpark could still be achieved with MU-8, project planners said.

The notion of having MU-11 heights next to single-family housing could create challenges, especially with creating a "traditional step-down" in zoning heights, said Salt Lake City Councilwoman Sarah Young.

"I feel like MU-8 feels like we would still be achieving a significant amount of density in that space without necessarily going up to the full 150 (feet)," she said.

Her colleagues agreed, leading to an informal vote to swap MU-11 areas with MU-8. All other proposed zoning within the project space remains the same.

There had been some city and community support for MU-11, especially as the city deals with a massive need for housing. However, Carlsen said housing needs to be spread out throughout the city, noting the 14.8-acre parcel will still add new housing while potentially also keeping its history of being a community space.

"I don't see this as any other redevelopment site," she said. "This is a unique cultural asset that exists within the Ballpark neighborhood, and this zoning designation honors that past but also prepares us for the future."

The proposed zoning for the site has yet to be finalized. A public hearing on the proposed zoning is tentatively slated for Aug. 18, before a formal City Council vote could be held later in August.

Construction timelines will be sorted out sometime after that.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Carter Williams

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Carter Williams is a reporter for KSL. He covers Salt Lake City, statewide transportation issues, outdoors, the environment and weather. He is a graduate of Southern Utah University.