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After a multi-year process with the public and city-hall decision-makers, it looks like Salt Lake City’s dysfunctional missing-middle zones, RMF-35 and -45, are set for a major refresh.

At its mid-May meeting the Planning Commission voted unanimously, 5-0, to forward a positive recommendation to the city council for the revised “Multi-family Merger” proposal. 

The zoning rewrite essentially applies the city’s new template for allowing increased density and housing types to RMF-35 and -45, which includes density bonuses for maintaining existing structures.

While the original proposal may have had a catchy branding ring to it, the Multi-family Merger ran into some heavy friction on maximum height allowances from members of the public and several planning commissioners.

In the wake of the commission’s latest decision, neighborhood preservationists, who largely decried the changes, were able to claim a measure of victory. The “merger” was dropped, and heights will stay at 35 and 45 maximum, with no possibility of additional height through design review.

Housing advocates also had reasons to applaud the commission’s decision. 

Let’s look at some of the details of the changes advanced by the planning commission to the city council for a final decision.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City is one step closer to a proposed zoning change that advocates say could improve the city's housing landscape.

The Salt Lake City Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend changes to moderate-density multifamily residential district zoning first proposed by Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, setting it up for a final vote by the Salt Lake City Council.

One local organization celebrated the vote, saying it could pave the way for "more inclusive, family friendly housing" across the fast-growing city. Others weren't as enthusiastic about the plan, which could shake up future development in the city.

The proposal that the commission recommended would modify the city's RMF-35 and RMF-45 zones. Urban houses, two-family dwellings and row houses can have a maximum height of 35 feet, while cottage courts would be capped at 23 feet under both zones. Multifamily and nonresidential buildings can go up to 35 feet under the former, and they could go up to 45 feet under the latter.

It would generally apply to parts of the lower Avenues, Capitol Hill and Central City neighborhoods, which have the most of those zoning types. Parts of other city neighborhoods also have those zones. Planners say it would help spur "more housing in general."

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Photo Credit: KUER: Gov. Spencer Cox conducts a news conference at the studios of PBS Utah in Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 20, 2025.

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SALT LAKE CITY — The city launched a new study Wednesday aimed at finding solutions to what officials characterized as a “west-east divide.”

The two-year study, funded federally under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, seeks input from residents and creates a paid, community advisory board to look at solutions.

Residents of Salt Lake City’s western neighborhoods have said connectivity could improve and that those commuting to the east side faced accessibility issues due to the railroad tracks and Interstate 15, which both subdivide the city.

“What that looks like for individuals is late to work, late to appointments and just a daily cost added onto your transportation,” said Glendale Community Council chair Turner Bitton.

Bitton said a big part of the issue is there are few options to navigate around trains. He noted the only options in his area are bridges at 1300 South and 400 South, nine blocks apart.

“Folks that are on a short schedule trying to get to work — if a train stops you, that can be a real problem,” Bitton told KSL TV.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Big improvements are coming to west Salt Lake City. Eight new pickleball courts were officially unveiled Thursday at Rosewood Park, something city officials said residents have been asking for, and more courts are coming.

Salt Lake City Public Lands will be adding an additional 12 to 16 courts at other parks along the west side.

“It feels like some of those historical issues that we’ve had about underinvestment or redlining, that the city is really taking us seriously,” Turner Bitton, chair of the Glendale Neighborhood Council, said.

These improvements are just small signs of growing investment on the west side of Salt Lake City.

In 2014, the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities began its plans to make improvements to a major part of the sanitary sewer system, which runs underneath Rosewood Park.

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It's no secret Salt Lake is in the midst of a housing crisis. One group, SLC Neighbors for More Neighbors, is taking positive and practical approaches to the very real crisis with collaborative, data-driven activism.

According to founder and executive director Turner Bitton, the impact of prejudicial red-lining can be seen in both historical housing trends as well as current public opinion polls.

"The data clearly indicates over and over again that housing is a critical issue affecting Utahns' quality of life," Bitton says.

He cautioned against suggestions that Salt Lake City is different from any other city, since this is a common NIMBY ("not in my back yard") talking point that is used to slow down or prohibit evidence-informed policies that are actively working in other cities. The opposition by residents to proposed real estate and infrastructure development in their area is often based on assumptions that Salt Lake's problems are unique compared to any other major city and can't be addressed by the strategies employed elsewhere.

Bitton supports the more positive point of view that SLC is growing rapidly and will continue to gain positive national and international recognition. For example, the successful bid for the Olympics, the National Hockey League team or the Utah Inland Port create pressure to meet the needs of residents—however, this pressure isn't a bad thing. When elected officials listen to the voices of those most impacted by the housing crisis, rather than those who the housing market has served well, positive changes can occur.

"The arguments against housing rarely change, regardless of the scale or location of the proposed housing," Bitton observed. "The same arguments from the same people are made repeatedly, and despite the body of evidence showing the importance of housing, many elected officials continue to listen to these voices."

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Glendale neighborhood has seen a recent rash of shootings.

In all, four separate incidents have taken place since May 18.

On May 26, Salt Lake City police say dispatchers received calls of a shooting in the area of 1800 West Fortune Road.

When officers arrived, they found the victim, 30-year-old Nico Christopher Patino, who had been shot. Patino would die at the scene.

Officials say it appeared there was a fight that led up to that shooting.

Just two days later, police say an argument between two people led to a shooting just after 4 p.m. in the area of 3200 West Decade Drive.

When officers and paramedics found 42-year-old Thomas Priest lying on the ground with a gunshot wound.

Priest would die at the scene.

59-year-old David Chase was arrested on one count of murder and booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail.

Those two incidents, resulted in the fifth and sixth homicides in Salt Lake City, so far this year.

"We do recognize that there have been a few high-profile incidents in these areas, but we just want let our community members know that we are addressing these issues," said Salt Lake City Police Ofc. Yaier Javaid.

Police say overall crime in the Glendale neighborhood is down 9% and property crime in the area is down 10%. The recent amount of shootings in the area, however, is abnormal.

This sentiment is shared by Glendale Neighborhood Council chairman Turner Bitton.

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