The Salt Lake City Planning Commission on Oct. 10 voted 6‑1 to recommend that the City Council approve a street vacation request for portions of right‑of‑way crossing the former North Temple Landfill at 6780 West North Temple, subject to conditions that utility easements be reserved and the vacated parcels be consolidated with the subject property.

Planning staff presented the request as a step toward redevelopment and remediation of the landfill site; the Inland Port Authority is the property owner and has begun environmental remediation. Staff recommended approval with conditions, noting the area’s adopted Northwest Quadrant master plan envisions light industrial uses and wider streets suitable for heavy truck traffic rather than the narrow residential block pattern platted more than a century ago.

Planning Department staff explained the subject right‑of‑way stems from a historic subdivision pattern that was never built as intended; the construction of Interstate 80 in the 1980s further altered the parcel pattern. Staff said the city’s policies support remediation of former landfill sites for future development and called for roads sized for truck traffic in industrial areas. Utilities review flagged the need to record easements so future utility work can occur; engineering reviewers requested conditions consistent with prior, similar petitions on the west side.

Corbin Bennion of Dominion Engineering, the applicant representative, told commissioners that the existing frontage road will be widened to three lanes and that preliminary design coordination with UDOT has occurred. Staff noted no public utilities currently run through the exact road segments proposed for vacation but recommended reserving easements and asked that the vacated right‑of‑way be consolidated with the property via a partial consolidation application.

A resident commenter, Timothy Welke, spoke during public comment to ask about transit implications and the Green Line; planning staff and commission members clarified the subject site lies west of the current Green Line terminus and that UTA extension into the inland port is not in the current long‑range plan.

Commission discussion touched on the long history of platted but unbuilt subdivisions across the west side, the city’s gateway vision for the area and the need to ensure easements for utilities. The commission’s motion recommended City Council adopt the vacation with two conditions: record/reserve an easement to Salt Lake City for utilities and consolidate the vacated portions with the subject property. The motion passed 6‑1.