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Hardage upzone at Linden Avenue and 800 East

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and details may be misheard.

  • What: a request by Hardage Hotel Development Company (as captioned) to up-zone three parcels at Linden Avenue and 800 East, between 300 South and 400 South, which needs a general plan amendment.
  • Where it stands: two commenters urged the council to deny it. A council vote is described as upcoming; no date is in this meeting.
  • Next: council vote on the general plan amendment.

Arguments made in comment

  • Deborah Rothol said the Planning Commission voted 6 to 1 to deny the general plan amendment, that the light rail line on 400 South predates the plan, and that the council deliberately excluded these parcels from the transit station area in 2012. She noted one building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Cindy Cromer said up-zoning east of State Street, including this request and another in East Central, would draw development away from State Street, downtown and the west side.
  • These are speaker claims taken from auto-captions and have not been checked against the planning record.

May 5, 2026 public hearing (from the official minutes)

The same project came to the Council earlier in the year as a master plan and zoning map amendment (petitions PLNPCM2025-00641 and PLNPCM2025-00660; Council District 4). It would rezone about 346, 350 and 354 South 800 East from RMF-35 to MU-5 and change the Central Community Plan future land use map for those parcels plus 370 South 800 East and 775 East 400 South to High Density Transit Oriented Development, allowing a mixed-use building with 109 residential units (2-, 3- and 4-bedroom) and ground-floor commercial space, replacing three buildings that hold seven apartments. The petitioner is Sean Thompson for the owner, Hardage Hospitality. The Planning Commission recommended the zoning map change but recommended that the Council deny the future land use map change; the applicant also seeks design review approval to exceed the 200-foot maximum facade length, which the Commission will reconsider after Council action. Timeline: briefing April 14, hearing date set April 21, hearing May 5, tentative action May 19, 2026.

Kate Werrett introduced the item. About fifteen speakers opposed it, citing scale and height, density, loss of naturally occurring affordable housing, displacement, traffic and the 800 East bike corridor, spot zoning, expanded uses allowed under MU-5, a neighbor petition signed by 48 residents (James Birchler), and the developer's history with the properties (Jen Colby, Matta, Mark Rex, Matthew Mehr, Debora Wrathhall and others). Esther Hunter for the East Central Community Council asked for a mutually beneficial outcome that preserves naturally occurring affordable and workforce housing. Cindy Cromer asked the Council to keep the hearing open. David Dansie (for the applicant) and architect Sean Thompson spoke in support, describing community outreach and site constraints such as fire access. Council Member Lopez Chavez thanked participants for the multi-year process, acknowledged the revisions, and said more collaboration was needed because the project did not yet fit the neighborhood. Moved by Lopez Chavez, seconded by Carlsen to continue the public hearing to a future Council meeting: passed 7-0.

Sources

Discussion time

About 4 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting Minutes
2026-10-20 - City Council Formal Meeting 4

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