Sandy OKs 2 stadium steps

By Amelia Nielson-Stowell
Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, June 21, 2007 12:04 a.m. MDT
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SANDY — With a high-power agreement, parking plan, bond issues and New York meeting with financiers all on the horizon, this south-valley suburb is slated to approve the final details in the next couple months before a Real deal is finally wrapped up.

Tuesday night, the Sandy City Council approved two major steps in giving the soccer team $45 million worth of public dollars.

The council approved a crucial parking ordinance that has been through months of debate among council members. The ordinance has been under consideration since March, with most council discussion revolving around the small number of parking spaces for Real's 20,000 fans at the Sandy stadium.

Under a state-approved plan giving the team $35 million from hotel-tax revenues for land and parking at the site, Real must come up with 1,000 new parking stalls within a five-minute walking distance of the stadium. The majority of the other spots would require a five- to 15-minute walk. Sandy had to amend current code to allow for off-site parking at such distances.

Real's engineering study says that 5,300 total parking spaces would be needed to accommodate those who drive to the stadium, most car-pooling. The others are expected to use mass transit.

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Sandy has required Real to come up with another 1,000 on-site stalls to be added after Real's 2008 opening in the fall. The parking ordinance approved Tuesday also requires proper signage around residential streets where game-night parking will not be allowed — a concern of many stadium neighbors.

And now that Salt Lake County has signed off on their end of a funding deal on the stadium, the council was able to approve Tuesday the first step in issuing those $35 million worth of state-approved bonds.

Acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, the council passed a resolution giving intent to issue those bonds. After the required 30-day "challenge period" is over and a development agreement is green-lighted by the council, those bonds can officially be approved by the agency.

That development agreement will be discussed at the July 10 council meeting and voted on during the July 17 meeting. The agreement includes terms and conditions Real must meet in order to receive an additional $10 million in public funding from Sandy's RDA. The state will set minimum terms with Real, and Sandy can add further conditions.

Those bonds will also be discussed at the July 10 meeting. Approving an intent to issue now, though, sets the maximum parameters of the bond, does not allow for higher discount rates and locks in interest rates, said Jason Burningham, the city's financial analyst.

"At this point, we're still trying to find purchasers for the bond," Burningham said, adding concerning rising interest rates: "I think the quicker we can get to the market with this, the better off we will be."

E-mail: astowell@desnews.com

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