No decision yet on Mt. Olivet land
Just as many neighbors, however, lined up against the sale that would transfer the land on Sunnyside Avenue and 1400 East in Salt Lake City from Mt. Olivet Cemetery to the school, which would eventually use it for a middle school, high school and soccer fields.
The Salt Lake City Council held the hearing because it ultimately will make the decision about whether to change the zoning on the parcel, which is a condition of the sale to Rowland Hall. The council did not make that decision Tuesday night.
The rezoning proposal has had public airings at several community council meetings and at least one Planning Commission meeting in previous months — most community councils and the Planning Commission do not support the rezoning.
"I would propose that we have gone through all the efforts that you as a community have set up for neighborhoods to express their needs," said Barbara Cook, who lives across the street from the land. "We would like you to respect the fact that we have gone through this procedure correctly."
"We are willing to pay full development value for this land (and) maintain 50 percent open space," said Paula Sargetakis, chairwoman of the school's board of trustees. "We will provide this at our cost, not at the citizens' of this city."
Councilman S¿ren Simonsen said his mind is made up based on what he called overwhelming community resistance to the rezoning.
"I didn't hear anything tonight from Mt. Olivet or Rowland Hall that was compelling enough to support the rezone," Simonsen said.
If the council approves the rezoning, Mt. Olivet still must ask Congress to remove a clause in land contracts from 1909 that say the property must be used as a cemetery or else it reverts to federal control.
E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com
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