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Lisette Gibson's blood still boils when she sees the "Garage Mahal," a not-so-mini mansion that doesn't fit in with the quaint Tudor homes in her Yalecrest neighborhood.
But historic home lovers like Gibson could soon have more tools in their preservation arsenal. Salt Lake City has drafted a preservation plan which, pending approval by the City Council, could make monster homes much harder to build.
The plan's content all came from a series of public meetings, said Robin Ziegler, a city senior planner. Planners will present the preservation plan to the Council on Aug. 18, and expect to work one on one with council members to address additional concerns.
The council hopes to implement the plan by the end of summer, said Councilman Soren Simonsen. That's when the hard work will actually begin.
One of the biggest issues in preservation is zoning conflicts, Simonsen said. He pointed to the recent Sugar House redevelopment debacle as a prime example. The city's master plan called for Sugar House to be preserved, but at the same time it was zoned for high-density redevelopment.
"Everybody's right and everybody's wrong with those types of conflicts," Simonsen said.
He hopes the plan will give clear guidance on how to resolve such challenges in the future.
Kirk Huffaker of the Utah Heritage Foundation says the plan can't come soon enough. He says it will help the city prioritize what buildings to preserve as more
Huffaker said with so many historic districts and buildings in Salt Lake City, prioritizing is paramount.
The plan comes too late to prevent the Garage Mahal, a 10,000-square-foot, never-lived-in behemoth at 1788 Hubbard Avenue. But Gibson, Yalecrest Neighborhood Council chair, believes the preservation plan can help prevent other megahomes in the future.
Yalecrest currently has its own preservation guidelines, but is looking forward to having the weight of the city behind her when fighting the next "insensitive add-on" or demolition.
"There's something about the patina of an old house compared to new paint and vinyl windows," Gibson said. "We're just losing our core historic feel."
