Neighbors will get another chance to speak out on project near Trolley Square

Salt Lake City has ordered a do-over of a key vote to rezone property near Trolley Square after a state panel ruled the public wasn't properly notified before the city took action.

A representative for Mayor Jackie Biskupski said Thursday that although the mayor disagrees with the state Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman ruling, she and members of the City Council have agreed to schedule another Planning Commission hearing and vote on the issue for Sept. 14.

"We readily recognize the ordinance is slightly confusing," Biskupski spokesman Matthew Rojas said. "We want the community to feel they are heard."

Trolley Square owner Khosrow Semnani applied for the rezoning as he seeks to build a mixed retail and residential project on the several parcels adjacent to the mall's landmark sky bridge over 600 South.

Public interest in his proposal is keen. Scores of residents turned out March 9 for a Planning Commission hearing on changing the land from residential to a new form-based zoning that would allow higher buildings and a blending of apartments and retail stores.

Though several people complained about the lack of notice, the commission voted to recommend City Council approval of the rezoning.

But the state property-rights ombudsman ruled Wednesday that the city had failed to follow its own notification rules, rendering the vote invalid.

Leaders from two nearby neighborhood councils potentially affected by the project — Central City and East Central — weren't officially told of the scheduled hearing at least 45 days before it happened, ombudsman attorney Brent Bateman wrote.

Instead, city planners opted to use a different notification process by inviting officials to an open house about the project at City Hall. As a result, the head of the Central City Neighborhood Council was notified only 35 days before the commission vote.

The vote was appealed to the ombudsman by resident John Davis, who lives near Trolley Square.

The apparent 10-day shortcut, Bateman ruled, "leaves us no choice but to find that a final decision taken in violation of the city's notice ordinance will be void."

Though the ruling is nonbinding, Rojas said the mayor was choosing "to err on the side of public engagement" by ordering a rehearing.

Michael Iverson, chairman of Central City Community Council, said he was "very happy to see it turn out this way."

"We intend to continue to engage with the city on improving noticing requirements and transparency," Iverson said.

Rojas said city officials are "already working to clean up" the notification rules in question.

Douglas White, attorney for Trolley Square Ventures, said while company officials were disappointed by the delay, the ruling and city reaction did not detract from Semnani's proposal.

"This is one more opportunity to explain it to the public," White said. "It's still a great project, and it will go ahead."

tsemerad@sltrib.com

Twitter: @TonySemerad