SUGAR HOUSE, Utah — Kum & Go’s appeal to put a gas station at a corner of Sugar House Park was denied Wednesday by a Salt Lake City appeals hearing officer.
The company was eyeing the plot of land on the northwest corner of the park, where the structure of Sizzler’s Restaurant still sits three years after it shut down.
"(It) was within the scope of the planning commission to consider that a gas station off a freeway exit would bring additional traffic to an already difficult intersection and that given the purpose of the use, mitigation in the form of fewer cars is not possible,” public appeals officer Mary Woodhead wrote in a seven-page review.
Land use chair of Sugar House Community Council Judi Short said it’s odd that the lot is still standing after the area was turned from the state prison site into a park in the 1950s.
“There were small businesses including another gas station,” said Short. “All those seemed to have been absorbed into parkland, but this corner was not.”
She said a few developers have shown interest in the small 0.83-acre lot, but the most serious proposal to build has been from Kum & Go.
The company has 30 days to appeal to a state court to try and overturn the rulings and move forward with a gas station.
The company and soon-to-be owner Maverick did not respond Thursday for comment.
Short says she is glad the appeal was denied, citing traffic and environmental concerns with fuel spilling over into the purposeful overflow site of Sugar House Pond below the lot.
“I think it was the right decision to make,” said Short. “If it overflowed more than that, it would be absorbed into that earth and dam and that's part of the city water supply.”
Short believes whatever lies ahead for the little lot, whether it’s business or it’s absorbed by the park, is piquing public interest.
“I mean, this is I got more responses for this than any other project, including the Walmart up by Foothill,” she said.
