(KCPW News) What features make a neighborhood a local historical district? The Salt Lake City Council will attempt to answer that question today. Council chair Soren Simonsen says the decision could help residents and businesses looking to preserve certain areas.
“How many districts can we have or should we have? And trying to clarify what are the processes by which we designate districts and create some uniform standards as to the process by which they are created,” says Simonsen.
Simonsen says this conversation has been in the works for a number of years and has been highlighted by a proposal to make the Yalecrest neighborhood a historic district. He says although today’s discussion won’t directly impact Yalecrest due to a moratorium passed by the Utah legislature, it has the potential to affect several other neighborhoods.
“The Forest Dale neighborhood, which the new street car line will pass through, there might be some speculative development or people who acquire properties hoping capitalize on new opportunities that the street car will bring,” says Simonsen. “So, some have expressed to me that without added protections that the local district requires that neighborhood could be in jeopardy.”
The city council isn’t expected to finalize an outline for the requirements until next month.
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