Salt Lake City Council weighs leasing Sunnyside Park to U of U baseball; ends meeting early under disruptions by Gaza ceasefire supporters 

• Wikicommons

In a more than four-hour-long Salt Lake City Council meeting Tuesday night, the Council passed a ceremonial resolution for peace that was later met with criticism from constituents during the general comments portion of the meeting. A group of roughly 60 people demanded the Council pass a ceasefire-specific resolution regarding the conflict in Gaza. A handful of Jewish constituents spoke in support of the peace resolution.

The Council also heard public comments on a proposal to lease a section of Sunnyside Park to the University of Utah to facilitate the construction of a new ballpark. Additionally, the Council heard comments on and adopted a budget amendment.

Resolution for Peace
During the opening of Tuesday’s meeting, members of the Council took turns reading from a ceremonial resolution for peace, passed jointly with the administration of Mayor Erin Mendenhall.

“We reaffirm our commitment to remaining in and engaging in conversations to further our commitment to make Salt Lake City safe for everyone,” Councilmember Alejandro Puy said. He thanked stakeholders and those who worked behind the scenes to shape the resolution’s language.

The resolution condemns both anti-Palestinian and anti-Israeli rhetoric, supports Salt Lake City residents advocating for peace, urges federal leaders to work towards peace in the Middle East and emphasizes the city’s responsibility to protect local communities. But later in the meeting, constituents who for the last two months have called on the City Council to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict criticized this resolution as insufficient.

"Thank you for taking the first step in passing the resolution, though it's clear it only meant to appease us,” Ryeleigh Hewlitt said to the Council. "We will be relentless until you do the bare minimum and pass a permanent ceasefire.”

Hewlitt led a chant before leaving the podium, shouting “no justice” with the response “no peace” from members of the audience. Puy reminded attendees to maintain decorum and keep their expressions to themselves.

"To make sure that everybody feels safe and welcome in this room and this space, I would like to emphasize the importance of maintaining a respectful and orderly forum where everyone can participate,” Puy said.

In addition to comments calling for a ceasefire resolution, the Council heard from several Jewish constituents who were happy with the resolution for peace that had already passed.

"Thank you so much for your resolution today because it focuses on the citizens of Salt Lake City,” Rabbi Sam Spector told the Council.

Rabbi Spector acknowledged Israel’s violence towards Palestinians but also said that hearing phrases like “from the river to the sea” or referring to Israel as “is not real” from Palestinian supporters is damaging.

“It seems that advocating for the Palestinians only goes hand in hand with the demonization of Israel.” Rabbi Spector said.

Public comments were often met with applause or snaps from members of the audience, prompting Puy to issue several reminders that expressions of support or disagreement are not allowed.

A commenter named Ron Zamir discussed how some of the rhetoric of people calling for a ceasefire has bred fear among members of the Jewish community. Some of his comments were met by shouts from the audience.

Councilmember Chris Wharton took a moment to state that comments targeting the mayor or members of the Council are not persuasive for him. The Council was then met with shouts calling for a ceasefire or criticizing the Council, and Councilmember Puy called for a short recess.

Eventually, after a series of additional disruptions, Puy adjourned the meeting early, even though multiple registered speakers had yet to make their comments to the Council.

University of Utah Ballpark
The Council held a public hearing to accept comments on a proposal to lease a section of Sunnyside Park to the University of Utah for the construction of a new baseball stadium.

Until this point, the U’s baseball team has shared Smith’s Ballpark with the Salt Lake Bees. However, the Bees’ 2023 announcement to move and build a new stadium in South Jordan has left Utah Baseball without a ballpark to play in.

According to the U’s website for this project, they did not have the option to purchase Smith’s Ballpark from the city, and the University of Utah has already been working on finding an on-campus location for a new stadium for nearly 10 years. To safely build a stadium on its own land, administrators say, the U would have to build a 35-foot wall along the perimeter of the field to stop outfield balls from landing in Sunnyside Park. But leasing a section of Sunnyside Park to the U would allow the construction of a stadium large enough to avoid the construction of the wall.

The 1.175 acres of park land sought by the U contains a softball field and a multi-use field that would be lost in the construction process. In exchange, the U would commit $4.2 million to Sunnyside Park for replacement fields and park improvements.

Speakers against the project asked that the proposal be tabled until more information about the U’s plans can be released to the public.

"We haven't seen anything. There's been very little transparency in this whole process,” James Webster told the Council.

Jannet Hemming, chair of the Yalecrest Community Council, echoed this sentiment and expressed concern over a lack of engineering studies and precise design plans. She also questioned the environmental and infrastructure impacts this project could create.

Meanwhile, supporters of the proposal emphasized the benefits of having $4.2 million to spend on improvements in Sunnyside Park.

"That park needs some love,” said Jeremy Keele. “I think $4.2 million is a really awesome opportunity to reinvest in this park.”

Other speakers took the opportunity to discuss the high fees that youth athletic programs pay to rent fields around the city.

“Our leagues are burdened with exorbitant fees nearing $20,000 annually for dilapidated complexes this city has neglected for decades and it's unacceptable,” said August Watcher, president of the Foothill Youth Baseball Association. Watcher expressed disappointment in the lack of attention given to youth athletic programs and asked the Council to allocate part of the $4.2 million to a youth baseball fund.

The Council deferred action on this proposal to a future meeting.

Budget Amendment
The Council voted unanimously to adopt an amendment to the 2023-2024 fiscal year budget. This amendment allocates $230,000 to the expansion of an air quality program that focuses on electric bikes and indoor air purification systems. The amendment also allocated nearly $200,000 for mobile phone data extraction software and just over $200,000 to upgrade software so that the public has expanded options in reporting safety concerns.