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Show Now that all is said and done afls Solons SectionBa by Jo Schneider Enterprise Staff Writer Its all over now. The throb pulsating coming from Hill is Capitol quiet. And actions, that for the most part took place in the last two weeks of the legislative session, will both plague and aid Utahns in coming years. Utah business now has the task of discerning the effects of the 1977 legislature on their day-to-d- ay opera- All businesspeople tions. could agree on one thing, however - this years legislature was slow. But slow meant different things. For who those businesses needed action, it generally meant no action, and for Wednesday, March 23, 1977 those who liked the status quo, it meant getting by, perhaps, until the next session. Peter Cooke, legislative analyst of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, says the legislature did an okay job. None of the action the Chamber publically sup- ported became a reality, however. House Bill 101, which would have brought utilities to the south shore of the Great Salt Lake was defeated, but Governor Matheson did say it would receive a high priority in the Parks and Recreation budget next year. The gasoline tax bill also died a slow death and the Chamber is now concerned Whisper of Moratorium Worries Homebuilders by Jo Schneider The underlying theme throughout f .e meeting was the economic ramification; a continued drought would create. The dreaded word moritorium was treated with reverence and fear. In a nut shell, Hilbert explained the impending drought was a result of the Bonneville portion of the Central Utah Water project not being completed. For the past five years, the conservancy district allowed development to occur without a firm water supply because we had assurance from the goverment of CUP completion, Hilbert explained. That was a water source and without a committment to those funds for even one more year, we will have to instigate a moratorium. I see no other alternative for the long run, he said. Hilbert indicated ground water and deep wells will answer the short term problem this summer. "Utah is the second driest state in the union, next only to Nevada, and unlike the popular consenses for Capitol Hill, I dont feel we should dry up and blow away, (See MORATORIUM, page 5b) Enterprise Staff Writer President Carters decision to abruptly stop work on all western major water projects brought a concerned group of Greater Salt Lake Homebuilders together for a special tactical meeting. Although the water shortage is reason for concern, it should not and cannot create havoc among us, Ellis Ivory, president of Ivory and Company stressed to his fellow homebuilders. There are alternatives and a positive approach towards the problem is the only answer. The special meeting was called to appraise the severity of the water shortage and possible solutions to both short and long term problems. Bob Hilbert, manager of Salt Lake Countys Water Conservancy district; Jay Bingham, consulting engineer to the homebuilders group; and Charles Wilson, Salt Lake City water department director, provided the group with historical and current data on how and why the area is faced with the w'orst drought on record. Center Can be Expanded Business and commercial uses of the Cottonwood Heights shopping center have been increased by times with a recent decision to change the zoning from 50-6- 0 C-- l to managers of the center, said the zoning request was We purely speculative. have no leases pending, no big stores waiting to some in; it was just a matter of a vacancy arising and not being able to lease to a particular tenant because of zoning restrictions, Papanikolas stated. The center presently has ten stores of the neighborhood shopping center varC-iety, which is what a l zoning attempts to effect. continued provements. overall highway im- The Chamber voiced disappoint- ment in the lack of any capital expenditures which would, in turn, create return on investment. The Utah Association of Manufacturers gave the legislature a plus rating. Robert E. Halladay, executive vice president, was pleased with the passage of their product liability bill. ns Call it Sixes Its This bill will steady the insurance rates for companies, making it possible for some to obtain product liability insurance for the first time, and reduce and stablize the rates for others, the director said. Halladay also noted there were no major tax hikes. House Bill 30, which created a utility advisory board, is causing concern among businesspeople that users may get a better rate even though it costs more to provide service to individual users. And the banking industry seemed to come out on the debit side of the column. The bill with non-busine- ss which mortgage bankers were most concerned was the Residential Fair Lending Act, otherwise known as the bill, SB 40. It was defeated in the House after having passed the Senate. Mortgage bankers, as a group, did not support Paul Williams, the bill. Walker bank vice president and president of Mortgage Bankers Association said, We thought it would severely penalize the industry and discourage outside investors. anti-redlini- insurance bills) did not reach the floor, Williams said. Chuck Canfield, Tracy-ColliBank and Trust, head of the legislative committee for the Utah Bankers Association, said the group was concerned about Senate Bill 44, extending the moratorium on Electronic Fund Transfer Systems. The bill passed both houses. ng Legislation regarding the payment of interest in impound accounts (escrow and other accounts kept by companies to pay taxes and hard to decide whether the private club industry won or lost. According to Don Beck, executive director of the Private Gub Association, they sup- ported a legal limit to the number of private clubs which they got. However, through an error in someones arithemetic, the limit was placed at one club per 8000 people rather than the proposed one per 6000. The result is the state already has exceeded the new legal limit. The law applies only to -- clubs with state stores and does not liquor refer to the old style consumption and storage club, so the ultimate effect on club limitation is unknown. Beck said the limit does not make the license worth any more money, but does increase what a potential owner will assume to maintain ownership of a club. private Owners of multiple family dwellings seemed pleased with the legislaturess The Landlord actions. Tenant Act, which would have spelled out duties of apartment owners and tenants, was closely watched by the Apartment House and the Home Builders Associations. Peggy Fitzpatrick, president of the Apartment House Association said she (See UTAH, page 4b) Zoning Blocks Lincoln School Project Autonomy, Inc., the new owner of Lincoln School (13th South and State Street), faces zoning delays before it can convert the building into offices. C-- 2. John Papanikolas, Magna Investments, about the states ability to match federal dollars for Salt Lake City Commis- sioners denied the firms petition to change the zoning for the building from R-- 6 (high density residential use) to or (commercial a use), during public hearing last week. They said they preferred to change the ordinance regulating the use of offices in an R-- 6 zone. C-- l C-- 3 Autonomy wants to rent the offices to charitable agencies funded by United Way and various govern ment grants. "We want to rent the school for eleemosynary uses, Autonomy president, R. Wagner Jones, told the commissioners. But commissioners fear a change to commercial zoning would open the way for a shopping center, or theatre to be built on the site. They said they supported Jones intentions, but preferred to find another way to make them possible. Glen Greener, public safety commissioner, sug- gested changing the ordinance regulating use of office space in an 6 zone to allow a property owner to rent space to charitable organiza R-- tions. Its our ordinance, and we can change it any way we want, Greener declared. Jones explained he had been told the present ordinance requires an office building in an R-- 6 zone to be occupied by its owners, and that charitable organizations renting space in an office building in that zone would be in violation of the ordinance. Commissioners said they would proceed with another look at the ordinance and parking requirements. "We will attempt to provide for the use as you intended, but not provide for long range potential for use as a Greener shopping mall, said. Jones purchased the school from Salt Lake City School District for $600,000 in January, 1977. He told commissioners that, once re- modeled, the 100,000 square-foo- t building would be worth $3 million, and he could earn $500,000 a year in rental fees. He added that, because the property directly behind the building is zoned R-the worth of the land 2, itself, without the building, is negligible. He estimated it would cost $500,000 to bring the building up to code. |