Utah’s capital city has initiated a rezoning request for a senior center that county leaders briefly chose to permanently close before reversing that decision amid community pressure late last year.
However, it won’t affect the 10th East Senior Center at 237 S. 1000 East; rather, Salt Lake City planners say it would fix the site’s weird zoning, which could hinder any future plans for the site.
“If someone’s proposing additions or modifications that change the footprint, then, suddenly, if they’re in (one zone’s) regulations (another zone could impact it),” Nick Norris, Salt Lake City’s planning director, told KSL. “Not that there are any of those proposals, but we don’t know if there will be any in the future, so we’re really trying to clean up the zoning.”
Salt Lake City’s planning division initiated the request on Tuesday, launching a 45-day public comment period. The property is currently split between single- and two-family residential districts (R-2) and a special development pattern residential district (SR-3) and a public lands district, but the city is calling for the whole property to become public lands.
The odd zoning was brought to the city while Salt Lake County leaders were weighing the building’s fate, and city planners agreed it didn’t make sense. The center is currently closed for a $10 million renovation project, but in November, members of the Salt Lake County Council voted 5-4 along party lines to permanently close it.
The County Council ultimately paused that decision amid blowback from seniors, community members and some elected officials, some of whom were upset that the county had already spent $3 million toward renovations.
County leaders confirmed in January that the renovation will continue, and the building is on track to reopen in early 2027.
“We have an obligation to continue the project primarily for the benefit of the seniors it serves, and also because of our contractual obligation to the builders and architects,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson at the time.
There’s nothing to indicate that the current zoning would affect renovation plans, but it could complicate future plans, should Salt Lake County seek to expand the property or make other modifications, Norris said.
It’s unclear why the zoning was split the way it was, but he explained that it’s likely it had been that way for decades.
“All we’re doing is cleaning this up so it’s all one zone,” he said. “There’s no other intention or motivation other than it doesn’t make sense to be split (between three zones).”
The proposal comes as Salt Lake City has worked to consolidate its zoning map, which had become very complex.
Public comment will close on April 16, and the proposal will go through the Salt Lake City planning commission and City Council before being implemented.
