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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Meeting between council, commission to ease tensions
By SCOTT SCHWEBKEOGDEN -- The Ogden Landmarks Commission will meet Tuesday with the city council to ease hard feelings between the two organizations stemming from a controversial decision that halted renovations at the historic Windsor Hotel.
The Landmarks Commission requested the meeting to smooth its rocky relationship with the council.
"Recent events reflect a need for improvement in communication. (The) goal of all committees and council should work toward mitigating the divisiveness that is ultimately detrimental to the community," says an agenda for the meeting.
City Councilman Brandon Stephenson said the meeting with the Landmarks Commission may be beneficial.
"I hope we can understand one another's position a little better," he said Wednesday. "I think the council needs to come to a place where we can collectively determine the guiding principles and policies related to historical areas of the city. The Landmarks Commission can help us come to a guiding philosophy."
Some Landmarks Commission members have expressed dismay over a city council decision in September to reject an ordinance amendment that would have allowed exemptions to a 45-foot height restriction for Historic 25th Street buildings.
The amendment would have permitted the Ogden Planning Commission to grant a height variance once the Landmarks Commission had reviewed and approved building plans.
As a result of the city council's decision, Ogden Properties LLC has canceled its plans to renovate the Windsor Hotel at 166 Historic 25th St. because it can't add a fourth-floor penthouse that would have increased the building's height to 52 feet.
Several council members have expressed concern that waiving building-height restrictions and adding an additional floor at the Windsor would jeopardize 25th Street's National Historic Registry designation and eligibility for federal funding.
Some Landmarks Commission members feel slighted because the city council didn't consult them or communicate their concerns about the height-ordinance amendment, said Sue Wilkerson, a commission member.
"The city council needs to be held to a higher standard," she said. "When they suspected a problem existed, they could have picked up their phone or sent an e-mail to the Landmarks Commission. No one did."
Improved communications will be a major thrust of next week's meeting between the Landmarks Commission and city council.
"If there is confusion or dissatisfaction regarding a Landmarks (Commission) decision, the first contact should be to Landmarks for verification, reasoning on arriving at decision and additional education on the matter," according to talking points submitted by the Landmarks Commission to the council. "All involved need to publicly exhibit mutual respect and trust. There can be agreements to disagree based on factual details without undermining the other group. Statements (by some city council members) that Landmarks is politically biased need (to be) ... corrected."
Ogden Properties has threatened legal action against the city council for what it describes as an "underhanded political campaign" to kill renovations at the Windsor.
Ogden Properties said in an October letter to the city it has determined a price at which it would resell the Windsor to the Ogden Redevelopment Agency, which is made up of city council members.
However, even with $288,000 in incentives provided by the city to Ogden Properties deducted, the price tag for the Windsor could still exceed $1 million, according to the municipality's community and economic development department.
Richard McConkie, the city's deputy community and economic development director, said he's unaware of any available funds to purchase the Windsor.
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