South Salt Lake panel approves preliminary plat for veterans clinic at 3711 South State Street

The South Salt Lake Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve a preliminary subdivision plat for a one-lot campus at 3711 South State Street to accommodate a veterans clinic.

Spencer Cowley, senior planner with Community Development, told the commission the applicant’s submission meets state and municipal subdivision requirements and that third-party traffic review by Avenue Consultants found intersections would remain at acceptable levels of service. Cowley said staff’s recommendation to approve the plat did not change after the supplemental materials requested at the previous hearing were provided.

Bruce Moore, an architect with Perkins, described the proposed facility as “a two-story approximately 110,000 square feet” clinic intended to provide primary care for veterans, including a dedicated women’s clinic, a University of Utah–aligned residency clinic, telehealth services, laboratory and phlebotomy space, an outpatient pharmacy and roughly 90 exam and consultation rooms. Moore said the site plan includes about 600 parking spaces in a mix of surface parking and a one-level parking structure and a main drop-off canopy on State Street.

Commissioners pressed the applicant and city staff on tree preservation, buffering and neighborhood access. The applicant team said they plan to try to preserve 17 existing honey locust trees along 200 East but acknowledged some utility work may require “surgical” removal; they also said they propose planting 118 new trees if the 17 can be salvaged. Cowley reviewed code standards and said trees classified as noxious or invasive by state or federal lists—identified in the packet as Siberian elm per the applicant’s arborist and USDA classification—are not subject to the city’s one-for-four replacement requirement, while the 27 trees the applicant identified as noninvasive would be replaced at the required ratio.

Sharon Howery of Salt Lake City Neighborhoods’ urban forestry team told the commission the city is updating its landscape ordinance and tree-preservation guidance to better define which trees are “significant” and how to protect trees through construction. “We’re trying to make a better preservation and replacement type of plan that says here’s a significant tree for these purposes,” Howery said.

Engineering staff and the applicant also discussed egress and sight-distance concerns near Helm Avenue. Jacob Moser, an engineering staff member, explained that drivers leaving the site cannot make a left onto Helm and suggested options such as no-parking zones, signage and curb markings to improve sight lines. Cowley noted the city had consulted UDOT about sight-distance concerns at the State Street intersection but said UDOT had been reluctant to change parking or curb treatments without crash data; staff and the applicant agreed to continue coordination on signage, paint and other lower-cost measures subject to drainage and survey work.

The approval includes a condition that the applicant continue working with the city engineer to resolve neighborhood impacts during design and construction. Commissioner Self made the motion to approve the application by SS LLC OPC Venture LLC; Commissioner Spencer seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

The commission had no further business and adjourned the meeting.