Heart of Salt Lake City's Ballpark neighborhood could face even more changes

The neighborhood around Smith's Ballpark is already on the cusp of major changes, especially as Salt Lake City figures out how to reimagine the stadium space with the Salt Lake Bees moving out next year.

However, the heart of the neighborhood, as well as other parts surrounding it, may soon be rezoned to make way for major redevelopment in the near future. Salt Lake City planners unveiled their latest update during a community council meeting Thursday to a plan to rezone parts of the neighborhood from predominantly commercial and multi-family residential to a variety of mixed-uses to increase density directly south of downtown.

The proposed changes are now open to a public comment period that will remain open through Oct. 23 before the plan moves forward. Current homes in the selected area will not be affected despite these possible changes on the horizon.

"The city is not in here taking property and taking houses. This is giving people an opportunity to develop their property in a different way," said Salt Lake City planning manager John Anderson. "You are welcome to stay there forever."

Rezoning the heart of Ballpark

The selected area covers the land from 200 West to Major Street, and Mead Avenue to Merrimac Avenue, including Smith's Ballpark, Main Street and the Ballpark TRAX Station. Salt Lake City planning director Nick Norris explains that the proposed changes coincide with the Ballpark Station Area Plan city leaders approved last year in an effort to address the city's future growth.

City leaders have grappled with all sorts of sweeping zoning changes in recent years to meet the city's housing needs as it grows in population, including increasing density in areas surrounding its downtown core. Norris said the proposed rezoning would also support any new changes to Smith's Ballpark, which will remain city-controlled public land moving forward.

The proposal calls for a mixture of form-based urban neighborhood and mixed-use zones, which Norris said would be similar to the new projects popping up along the nearby Central Ninth neighborhood. It replaced a previous proposal that would have been similar to projects along 400 South or North Temple, following negative feedback from residents.

Most of the proposed zoning would allow for a possible mixture of residential, office, park, community facilities or government uses with maximum building heights between 40 feet and 75 feet, according to Salt Lake City principal planner Brooke Olson. She said the proposed zoning would have more open-use area and setback requirements than what planners had previously considered.

Olson said the proposed zoning comes with design standards that seek "pedestrian-friendly development" by the TRAX station. This section would have the lowest parking demands in the selected area, as well.

The biggest concern about the initial proposal was that it lacked improvements to green space and vegetation. It also would have created more height without setbacks, which would have tacked onto urban heat island effects, said Ballpark Community Council Chairwoman Amy Hawkins.

While she still has some hesitations tied to building height and density, Hawkins told KSL.com on Friday that the updated version answers a lot of what her community wants to see in the future.

"It's really exciting that they created a new zone that has more requirements for green space," she said. "I saw that being heard. ... It was them taking in the fact that (we) have legitimate concerns about the future of the neighborhood."

The next steps

The proposed changes are scheduled to be sent to the Salt Lake City Planning Commission and City Council by the end of the year, which is when the changes could be adopted.

The city is also set to release a draft of guiding principles for the "Ballpark Next" project at the start of 2024. This is also when a process to rezone the stadium's north parking lot will also begin, per city planners.

As it stands, Ballpark residents — and the general public — still don't know what's next for Smith's Ballpark even after this year's idea-generating contest. Hawkins said she believes the project will be "paramount" to the success of rezoning, but rezoning will also be important for the success of what the ballpark is turned into.

Yet she remains hopeful about the future of the community she lives in and represents as both projects unfold. She hopes that the changes will open up new ways for people to live in the city beyond renting or owning a single-family home, by creating more townhomes or condominiums.

"I think one of the best possible futures for the Ballpark neighborhood would be to find opportunities for dense owner-occupied housing," she said. "I think that would be a powerful way for the neighborhood to go and to find an identity there."