Planning Commission opposes making temporary school zoning rules permanent, approves West High street vacation

The Salt Lake City Planning Commission on July 9 recommended that the City Council not adopt a permanent text amendment to enshrine temporary land-use provisions for K—6 public schools in the PL (public lands) zoning district, but voted to support a separate petition to vacate a portion of 200 North adjacent to West High School.

Grant Aymond, a city planner, told the commission the two city-initiated petitions stem from the Salt Lake City School Districts voter-approved school improvement bond passed in November 2024. "The TLUR allows for the increased maximum height up to 125 feet for K through 12 public schools," Aymond said, and described related changes including reduced setbacks, limited exemptions from local historic-overlay provisions for K—6 public schools, and director-level authority for narrow health-and-safety modifications. He said the street-vacation request would enable the school district to consolidate parcels that are currently constrained by a 1987 lease.

The staff report framed the proposed text changes as a formalization of a temporary land-use regulation (TLUR) the council adopted earlier in the year to protect the timing of the bond-funded projects. The TLUR provisions cited in the staff presentation included:…