City staff outline public works campus entitlement timeline; propose rezoning, Oakland Avenue abandonment and changes to allow outdoor storage on city sites

City planning staff updated the South Salt Lake City Council on March 12, 2025, about entitlements and code changes needed for a new public works campus, including a proposed zone change to designate acquired parcels as a city facility, abandonment of the western portion of Oakland Avenue and code amendments to permit outdoor storage and standalone parking-lot uses on city-owned properties.

Timeline and actions: Staff said they expect to return to the council with the zone change, ordinance amendment and notice for abandonment in April, and hoped to complete preliminary plat consolidation by May with construction scheduled to begin in July.

Why it matters: The project requires changes to zoning and city code because current regulations prohibit outdoor storage and do not allow a standalone parking-lot use for a property. Those prohibitions create practical barriers to staging equipment, storing salt and aggregate, and using existing land to support essential city operations during construction.

What staff presented - Rezoning and platting: Staff said parcels the city recently acquired adjacent to its existing Public Works property need to be rezoned to “city facility” and consolidated by preliminary plat to allow the new campus layout.

- Oakland Avenue abandonment: Staff proposed abandoning the western portion of Oakland Avenue and absorbing the right-of-way into the public works site; they described the affected portion as a city-owned dead-end that would not affect through traffic. “We will be going through that noticing under state code,” staff said.

- Outdoor storage and parking-lot use: Staff told the council outdoor storage is currently prohibited; they will propose allowing outdoor storage at city facilities (with screening and fencing requirements) to accommodate items such as salt, dirt and gravel. They also proposed allowing parking-lot use as a standalone permitted use for city properties so the police department site and other city-owned parcels can be platted and permitted without building footprints over every parcel.

Staff rationale and cost context Staff described alternatives they considered and the financial implications of not allowing outdoor storage on city sites. They said moving public works operations to a leased site for two years would cost about $1 million overall, including approximately $600,000 in rent and tenant improvements. Building a replacement police facility or acquiring private land instead could cost significantly more; staff gave an example figure of roughly $13 million for land and construction combined.

Council questions and staff responses Councilmembers asked how many police vehicles are currently stored on city property; staff estimated about 15–20 vehicles. Staff said that previous solutions used a Planned Development (PD) overlay or special use to allow a metal evidence storage container (Connex box) at the police site, and that the proposed code changes would standardize the flexibility for city facilities rather than rely on individual overlays.

Concerns and safeguards Staff emphasized they would recommend screening and fencing to minimize visibility and neighborhood impacts and suggested limiting the allowance to city-owned facilities. Council members asked for more details about the maximum number of vehicles, rotation of stored items, fencing and nearby uses; staff said they did not have all specifics at the work meeting and would bring further detail at the April hearing.

Outcome and next steps No ordinance or code changes were adopted at the work meeting. Staff will return with formal proposals — a zone change to city facility, an ordinance amendment to allow outdoor storage at city facilities, an abandonment notice for a portion of Oakland Avenue, and a preliminary plat — with public notice and hearings scheduled in April and May.