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Public Works officially appoints its director, subdivision approval to pave way for apartments

Feb 27, 2017 01:16PM ● By Travis Barton

Public Works Director Larry Wright raises his hand as he’s sworn in by City Recorder Rori Andreason during a city council meeting. (Travis Barton/City Journals)

By Travis Barton | [email protected]
 
Larry Wright was officially sworn in as the Public Works Director of Midvale City during the Jan. 17 city council meeting. Wright had been serving as the interim director since September 2016.
 
“We’ve been very pleased with what Larry’s been able to do over these past few months,” said City Manager Kane Loader during the meeting. “He’s shown a lot of leadership and expertise in dealing with personnel. He’s a proven leader.”
 
Other items that took place during the Jan. 17 meeting included two unanimous approvals from the city council.
 
The council approved a subdivision of the 5.58-acre property located at 7090 South Union Park Avenue where a six-story office building and parking lot are currently situated. Subdividing the land into two separate lots will help pave the way for redevelopment of the land.
 
While the office building would remain on approximately three acres of the site, plans are to eventually replace most of the surface parking with a 209-unit apartment building and its accompanying four level commercial parking structure.
 
“This proposal is just the subdivision plat, it’s not for the redevelopment that would possibly occur in the future,” said City Planner Lesley Burns. “It’s just to divide the property into two parcels” that would help facilitate future redevelopment.
 
The Planning Commission recommended the approval with three conditions: that the subdivision be reviewed and approved by the city engineer and city council, that it notes all existing easements to remain on the property, and the subdivision notes all new parking and access easements between the two lots along with other operational agreements.
 
A second unanimous approval from the council saw an ordinance approved to rezone part of the property at 7697 S. Holden St. located next to Unique Auto Body. The body shop purchased the building next to it in an effort to expand its business, making their operations more effective.
 
Unique, whose been at its current location since 1983, needed the building it plans to remodel for its expansion to be rezoned from historic commercial to regional commercial.
 
In the Planning Commission’s recommendation for approval it states the rezone “helps to redevelop the existing commercial area to generate economic revitalization and improved physical conditions for the property.”
 
It also based its decision that it will help “rekindle interest and investment in the Main Street area” and “support a long-time, successful, local business.”
 
In the same meeting, the city council passed a resolution that saw the appointment of Councilman Paul Glover to be the city’s representative to the Salt Lake Valley Fire Service Area and Unified Fire Authority board. Mayor JoAnn Seghini had previously been serving in that position.
 
The resolution serves as an affirmation from the city for Glover to fulfill the position.
 
“Appreciate him taking on this assignment, I think he’s going to do a great job,” Loader said.