At its regular meeting on March 7, the Salida City Council (SCC) approved Ordinance 2023-04, adopting the state’s Plastic Pollution Reduction Act and establishing penalties for violation, as well as Resolutions 2023-11, establishing criteria for donations and memorials on city property, and 2023-12, approving the subdivision improvement and inclusionary housing plan for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) at 505 Oak Street.
Ordinance 2023-05, establishing procedure for small cell facilities, was continued to May 2, to give the Planning Commission time for a final review.
During public comment at the beginning of the meeting, Sarah Briam, owner of The Next Eddy fly-fishing shop at 129 W. First Street, urged the SCC to consider putting in signage downtown “to show that there are more businesses downtown than on F Street. Presidents’ Day sales on F Street broke records, but it was pretty normal for everyone else. The F Street (Plaza) closure just reinforces that disparity.”
“As you start planning for the summer,” she added, “some sort of signage needs to be involved to include the other businesses … we’re open to any options. We’re just asking that the city help us with this challenge.”
After Mayor Dan Shore read a proclamation for March as Women’s History Month, the next item of business was a brief public hearing for a liquor license change of location for the Riveting Experience Jewelry Shop, from 121 N. F Street to 109 N. F Street, Unit B. The motion to approve passed unanimously.
Parks and Rec Explains Memorial Procedures
Parks and Recreation Director Diesel Post explained the rationale behind Resolution 2023-11, establishing memorial and donation procedures. “We entered a moratorium in April 2022 – we had so many memorial benches, we couldn’t keep up. It takes staff two full days for memorial benches. We want to establish benchmarks for a menu of memorials. Large memorials would come to the SCC [for approval].”
In answer to a question from Council member Mike Pollock about the proposed ten-year sunset on memorials, Post explained, “Existing memorials have a 20-year span, new ones will have a ten-year span. You have the option to pay the fee again after ten years, so you can pay to continue, or opt out and let other people have the space.”
“We have about 100 [memorial benches] right now, said Post. “Our bench supplier dried up, so we decided to try to standardize. We will have some locations you can choose from, but there are finite sites. There’s a lot going on in the county now, as we expand our trails, they are running into the same issue.”
Mayor Pro-tem Justin Critelli made the motion to approve, which passed unanimously.
Consideration of the 505 Oak Street Project
Development at 505 Oak Street. Image courtesy of the City of Salida.
Resolution 2023-12, the approval of a subdivision improvement and inclusionary housing plan for 505 Oak Street, an 18-lot, 44-unit PUD on 2.09 acres at the intersection of Highways 50 and 291, also passed unanimously.
Senior Planner Kristi Jefferson, making the presentation, explained that the developer “has agreed to include two for-sale units and six for-rent units, deed-restricted, for inclusionary housing.”
“I’m really excited about this,” said Shore. “I think it’s going to bring some market-ready apartments to the city.”
During council reports, Critelli made the case for more social media presence to promote arts and culture in the city. Alisa Pappenfort supported Briam’s call for more signage for downtown businesses. Pollock called for more effort to control aggressive dogs and deer within the city limits. Shore said that he was part of a meeting with a group that is organizing to advocate for more assisted living.
The agenda and packet for the meeting can be found here. The next regular meeting of the SCC will be on March 21.
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