Salt Lake City’s long-debated plan for the Smith’s Ballpark site just cleared its first big hurdle at City Hall, setting the stage for a major remake of one of the city’s most prominent corners.
On Wednesday, the Salt Lake City Planning Commission voted 5-2 to recommend a rezoning package for the ballpark property, advancing the city’s Ballpark NEXT vision while leaving the final call to the City Council. The proposal would open the door to mostly mixed-use development and keep some stadium elements for public use. Supporters say the shift could bring sorely needed housing and new public amenities, while nearby residents worry it will shrink green space and crank up temperatures in the surrounding blocks.
Rezoning package explained
The mayor’s petition would change several city-owned parcels around the stadium into MU-11 and MU-5 zones to line up with the Ballpark NEXT design framework. Most of the site would fall under MU-11, which generally allows buildings up to 125 feet and permits heights up to 150 feet near the corner of 1300 South and West Temple, as outlined by SLC Planning.
The Ballpark NEXT site itself covers roughly 13.5 acres at West Temple and 1300 South, according to the city’s redevelopment agency CRA.
Commissioners split after a lengthy debate
The 5-2 vote came after nearly two hours of staff presentations, project updates and public comment. Commissioners Amy Barry and Richard Leverett voted no, citing concerns that the design still falls short on meaningful green space. Backers of the plan argued that the rezoning will set clearer expectations for future projects and unlock new housing and neighborhood activity, while some speakers urged waiting for more detailed designs before changing the zoning map, according to KSL.
Design keeps a stadium memory and daylights a creek
The Ballpark Community Design Plan calls for partially demolishing the existing stadium while preserving the first base bleachers as seating and a community gathering venue. It also proposes “daylighting” a buried section of Red Butte Creek to create new public green space, according to Ballpark NEXT materials and the design plan released by the city’s redevelopment agency CRA.
City planners say that after public feedback, they added more trees, a promenade and reduced building heights in certain areas in an effort to cut urban heat impacts and carve out more usable open space on the site.
Neighbors press for housing ownership and green space
Residents and neighborhood advocates told commissioners they want to see more opportunities for homeownership and family-friendly recreation uses, rather than a landscape dominated by dense apartment buildings. Several warned that trimming back the old field’s footprint could leave the neighborhood with less total green space.
“It is not more dense apartments that drown out the single-family homes,” Ballpark Action Team co-chair Fraser Nelson told meeting attendees, as reported by KSL.
Project managers say community requests, including ownership options and strategies to blunt heat, have already shaped recent tweaks to the plan and that finding the right balance among those goals remains an ongoing challenge.
What happens next
With the Planning Commission’s recommendation in hand, the rezoning package now moves to the City Council, which will hold public hearings and take a final vote. The council has not yet set a date.
City officials and local reporting indicate that any build out will roll out in phases and could take several years, with some staff suggesting that initial construction might not start until 2026 or 2027, according to Building Salt Lake. Planning materials from SLC Planning note that, in the meantime, elected leaders will have to weigh the benefits of denser development and new public amenities against neighborhood calls for more park space and stronger paths to ownership.
