Protesters rail against planned sports complex
Jordan River site needs protection, protesters insist
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705356114/Protests-over-sports-complex.html
SALT LAKE CITY — An e-mail campaign and online petition have been launched by Jordan River enthusiasts opposed to a Salt Lake City proposal to build a sports complex at approximately 2200 North along the Jordan River.
The group, which is being led by the Jordan River Restoration Network, also is urging residents to attend the City Council's meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday to voice opposition in the allowed two-minute comment period.
The City Council is scheduled to discuss the soccer complex and the issuance of $15.3 million in voter-approved bonds for the project during a work session Tuesday. The council is expected to set a public hearing for Feb. 2 to allow the public to weigh in on the project before making a decision.
Real Salt Lake has kicked in another $7.5 million for the complex, which would include soccer fields and baseball diamonds...
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Enviros pillory SLC sports complex
Jordan River » Becker insists river bank and wetlands will be saved, but critics label 160-acre complex "madness."
By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune
A 21-field sports complex near Rose Park would not disturb the neighboring Jordan River, but rather, ensure a 23-acre collar of green along its bank.
Mayor Ralph Becker is banking on his nature preserve talking points, indeed a commitment of cash, to make it so.
But a swelling crew of residents -- a standing-room-only crowd stormed City Hall on Tuesday -- argue spoiling the river's last undeveloped patch of open space with $40 million worth of lighted stadiums, buildings for snacks, restrooms, and parking for 1,300 is "madness."
One invoked Hurricane Katrina as reason enough never to build in a flood plain.
"I'm appalled and saddened by what I see happening to the river," said Kristia Urry. "Once we build on an area like this, it's gone."
Ty Harrison, a professor of biology at Westminster College said a landscaped bank rimming a recreation complex cannot be considered a nature preserve. Forcing out the birds and red fox, he added, is "ecological ignorance."
The City Council will vote Jan. 19 on whether to release a $15.3 million bond, approved by voters in 2003, along with a $7.5 million donation from Real Salt Lake to construct the complex west of the river near 2200 North. The city is courting Salt Lake County for another $17 million in exchange for management control.
Known as the Jordan River Restoration Network, the concerned residents have launched an online petition and an assault on Becker's
office. They argue the complex will clog the air with heavy car traffic. And they wonder why the cost has nearly doubled for fewer fields - insisting it could be built elsewhere.
But a nearly equal number of soccer enthusiasts, parents and bond supporters also turned out to combat the critics. If it is a boondoggle to give kids a place to play, one argued, "let's boondoggle."
"This is not Yellowstone. It is an area that is surrounded by a housing development, a freeway, an airport," said Paul Burke, past president of the Utah Youth Soccer Association. "Elections have consequences."
"It's been like a carrot we've been dangling in front of our children," Tiffany Sandberg added. "We really do need to move forward."
Becker argues 85 percent of the complex would be "vegetated," while only 15 percent "hardscaped." It would have and average river buffer of 223 feet, he notes, along with irrigation holding ponds and more than 400 new trees.
But besides the environmental questions, Councilman Soren Simonsen maintains the plan violates the open-space intention of the master plan. And Councilman Luke Garrott worries about the reaction of residents. "From a taxpayers perspective," he said, "it looks like we're getting less for more from what we voted for in 2003."
Becker says he feels "responsible" for carrying out the will of the voters. And he argues state officials, who deeded the acreage to the city last year, made it "quite clear" they would develop the property if the city does not.
That rationale has done little to silence the bird watchers, naturalists and frequent river walkers who argue preservation efforts have been underway for decades.
"This property should be considered extremely sacred because of its scarcity," said Dan Potts. "I cannot believe that the soccer community would want to fall on this sword."
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aul Fraughton/ The Salt Lake Tribune 
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Riverside Country Club planning new $12.5M clubhouse 
Riverside Country Club, which was built in the early 1960s, is being razed to make way for a larger and updated clubhouse. The club closed in September in preparation for the demolition after the owners thought they had secured financing from Bank of Utah. ASHLEY FRANSCELL/Daily Herald 
I do appreciate the first page post pics, as there's usually just a couple, but the holiday season versions were quite large in scope.
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