This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, has done a lot for his city as a leader in the Legislature. And, apparently, his city likes to do things for him, but members of Sandy's Board of Adjustment apparently didn't get the memo.
At an appeals hearing Thursday, the board reversed an earlier decision by the Sandy Planning Commission that gave Curtis a number of waivers to city ordinances so he could create a new road to six subdivided building lots. Neighbors had strenuously opposed both.
Residents living on or near Maio Court at about 80th South and 1600 East felt they got nowhere with their protests before the Planning Commission.
The plan would violate ordinances on mandatory park strips and sidewalks for new developments, public frontage areas and slope and grade requirements. Other developers had looked at developing those lots but gave up because of the physical and legal challenges.
But the Planning Commission granted Curtis the waivers he needed. Neighbors complained that he seemed to get deferential treatment during the several hearings the commission held on the issue.
A memo dated Feb. 27 from one planning officer to another said, ''This is the one being done by the speaker of the House and his dad. Do you want to sign this plat?''
The Board of Adjustment ruling means Curtis must reapply with the Planning Commission or appeal to 3rd District Court before he can proceed with the plans.
Setting an example: I've written a number of times about law enforcement and other government officials violating traffic laws or rules that you are expected to obey.
But here's the other side of the story.
When Utah Public Safety Commissioner Scott Duncan returned a call from a Tribune reporter Thursday, he left a message on the reporter's phone recorder saying he was driving back to Salt Lake City from St. George and would call again when he could find another place to pull over, since he makes it a personal rule never to talk on his cell phone while driving.
History mystery: My column item Friday about Ralphael Plescia's safety concerns over the new marble lions at the renovated state Capitol building triggered a different concern from readers.
What happened to the time capsule?
Plescia, who resculpted the old lion statues at the Capitol in 1977, is concerned that children are climbing on the the new lions that are on granite blocks high above a parking lot below. A dangerous fall could result.
Capitol preservation officials say they, too, are concerned and are posting signs about the danger. They took issue with my report that they hung up on Plescia when he called from the governor's office. They took the call, they say, and Plescia wasn't there.
Let's chalk that one up to confusion on the part of the elderly Plescia.
But they also thought the time capsule Plescia asked about doesn't exist. He put it together when he renovated the lions 32 years ago. But they were looking in the granite slabs. Plescia put it in one of the lions, which have been sitting in the Surplus Property Warehouse for a number of years.
So perhaps the thoughts of tourists and others that were gathered back in the Carter administration can still be found.