This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Not wanting to shut down land-use processes completely in Millcreek before it becomes a city next January, the Salt Lake County Council has loosened a moratorium to let people there get building permits and seek conditional-use permits for a couple more months.

But shortly after making that accommodation last week, council members wished a moratorium would have been in place so they could leave a decision about a contentious rezoning application in west Millcreek to the new city officials.

Council members did manage to table the matter.

But county lawyers advised them that their hold is only good until Dec. 7 — 180 days after the county Office of Township Services submitted the rezoning request to help pave the way for a transit-oriented development along the TRAX line about 4200 South.

So unless council members can find other grounds for delaying the decision an extra month, the county may have to rule. And here's a catch: While Millcreek's expected future leaders would like to see partial approval of the rezoning request, it's questionable whether a majority of County Council members would vote for it.

Several council members, including Democrat Sam Granato, expressed concern that Township Services' rezoning request — even in the reduced area favored by Millcreek officials — includes land whose owners oppose the proposed change.

"I don't feel comfortable telling the landowners I'm rezoning your land whether you like it or not," said Republican Councilman Michael Jensen.

Added Councilman Steve DeBry, also a Republican: "People have a right to have their property and not have government come in and take it. There's something sacred in property rights. Government better have a really, really good reason to infringe upon property rights."

The likely mayor and most candidates for Millcreek City Council seats think the Office of Township Services has a good plan for developing the city economy.

In June, Township Services applied to rezone 16 parcels occupying 22 acres from manufacturing to mixed-use with high-density residential, commercial space and offices. Those uses comply with the goals of Millcreek's general plan and the Millcreek/Meadowbrook small-area plan.

"New multi-family developments in the vicinity (both in the county and Murray City) along with two TRAX light rail stations [on either end] have created opportunities for economic growth and revitalization of the area," said the Township Services application, noting the county is taking the lead because the land is in a redevelopment area.

In its review, the Millcreek Township Planning Commission decided 22 acres was too big. But it recommended rezoning the nine acres in the center, supporting what the proposal was intended to do.

Meeting informally, candidates for the new city government backed this approach, said Jeff Silvestrini, who is running unopposed for mayor after his opponent withdrew for medical reasons.

Rezoning the nine acres, he said, "will preserve for our future city the right to use this area" consistent with the area-development plan.

But if it's not, Silvestrini added, Millcreek's leaders fear the existing manufacturing zoning will be used to bring in some operations that won't mesh with a transit-oriented development.

That's a problem County Council members don't want in their lap.

"I'd like to continue this until the new city comes in so they can decide for themselves long-term what to do," Jensen said. "That's one of the reasons they voted to become a city, to control their own ordinances. I don't want to rezone [their] land."

The County Council was amenable, however, to amending a 5-year-old county ordinance that automatically places a moratorium on all land-use applications within the borders of a new city in the months before it incorporates.

That well-intentioned restriction, Silvestrini said, could have unintended consequences "prejudicial against landowners and developers with legitimate plans."

So he and City Council candidates agreed the issuance of building permits for individual properties should not be hampered, while the deadline for seeking a small-scale conditional-use permit or subdivision permit would be pushed back from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1.

Since the deadline for seeking a zoning change was Sept. 1, the county will not entertain new requests for big rezonings in Millcreek or other projects that have widespread community impact. But the county will complete any rezoning request submitted before then.

This combination of approaches, Silvestrini said, "doesn't stop economic development in our community" while "protecting the city against a land rush of applications."