The Sandy City Council formally approved a new arts-and-culture zone in Sandy's central business district. The zoning - which requires a project to have a regional arts venue and allows buildings to climb to 600 feet with the Planning Commission's OK - was tailored to meet the needs of The Proscenium.

The project's first phase includes a 2,700-seat, Broadway-style theater and a 40-story tower, roughly 550 feet tall, that would house a hotel, condos and offices. The City Council applied the new zoning to the 11-acre Proscenium site near 10100 South and Interstate 15.

Also this week, Sandy's Planning Commission granted preliminary site-plan approval to The Proscenium's first phase. The project will have to score final approval before the Planning Commission grants extra height. Building heights throughout Sandy's commercial core currently are capped at 150 feet.

- Rosemary Winters