SALT LAKE CITY — Denise Payne has lived at her home on 2200 West in Salt Lake City for the past 35 years.
"I’m struggling… and honestly, I don’t want to live here anymore," she said Monday.
Zoning changes 20 years ago allowed for industrial developments like the million square foot warehouses going up now, something Payne claims she had no idea was a possibility right across the street from where she and her husband live in what’s called Northpoint.
"It’s not a neighborhood anymore as far as I’m concerned," Payne said. "With all this construction going on, it’s just not a neighborhood!" I mean we all talk to each other still and try to get stuff taken care of but it’s just a big construction site right now."
Residents say the neighborhood used to be a really quite area with farms and horses. But now, it's constant construction.
"There were 6 semis before 6:30 this morning," said Payne. "It’s just noise non-stop.
The Northpoint small area plan is up for a vote by the city council Tuesday; a plan that has been under council review since February. In March, a public hearing was held in response to the growth in this area and recent land annexations.
In September, the council proposed changes to the plan including a wetland buffer, bird-friendly design requirements, zoning adjustments and limited distribution. But city council member Victoria Petro, who represents the residents of Northpoint, says there’s only so much they can do, blaming past administrations and choices made decades ago.
"The business park zone is terrible," Petro said. "If I have my way it’ll be removed from our dockets. "There are so many things from 20 years ago that don’t work today and we need to fix."
Once a beautiful preserve, Petro says things turned commercial when ownership of this land changed.
"By right, they’re allowed to. There was no developer agreement, there was no planning commission or point where the city council had to get involved," she explained. "All of our work now is retroactive."
Payne hopes the council will take measures to at least keep her side of the street reserved for residential and agricultural use, but shes isn’t very optimistic and the couple is planning to sell their home if they can, but know that’s not an option for everyone.
"There’s so many residents that don’t want to move," she said. "They just don’t want to."
As for the council vote on Tuesday?
"I hope to offer the constituents who have been living with so much uncertainty and stress, a little more predictability and a little more protection," said Petro.
