“Weedy” and “ugly” are both words commentators used to describe Sandy City park strips on a recent NextDoor post by Sandy City Councilmember Cyndi Sharkey.

“We seem to have (pun intended) a growing problem with park strips becoming weed strips,” Sharkey said.

Sandy City Land Development Code defines a park strip as “the landscape area within a public right-of-way located between the back of the street curb and the sidewalk or in the absence of a sidewalk, located between the back of the street curb and the property line.” 

It’s a topic she’s felt passionate about for years and presented to the council in October to change. A suggestion she made was to alter an existing ordinance requiring developers to incorporate park strips into their plans—whether that be by simply not requiring them or by not allowing parking strips is up for debate by the council.

City administration doesn’t see the need to change how park strips are currently managed under the ordinance.

The case against park strips

At the very least, Sharkey hopes that by changing this fewer park strips will be built resulting in fewer unkept areas, saving the city money, reducing the water wasted in the city and making the most out of available space.

“I'm not looking to make a retroactive change,” she wrote in an email, emphasizing this would put no further regulations on existing park strips.

Sandy City Community Development Director James Sorenson acknowledged the negative impacts of park strips in an October memorandum including the maintenance factor mentioned by Sharkey, water use, weed growth, tree root damage, and the pollution of ice melt and slat from road de-icing.

Since 2020, weed complaints have become an indication of the growing weed concern (no pun intended) in the city. Complaints increased from 183 in 2020 to 505 in 2023 which is the highest of the last four years, according to code enforcement data Sharkey supplied to the council and public.

The specific issues of the current park strips go beyond their curb appeal, as the trees in the park strips can damage sidewalks. Hazardous circumstances, such as trip hazards caused by tree roots that break or lift the concrete, cost the city roughly $1.2 million every year with an 11-year waiting list for repairs, Sharkey said during the Oct. 22 city council meeting. Of the $1.2 million spent on sidewalk repair, 70% or $840,000 is spent specifically on damaged sidewalk repair from trees growing in a park strip.

Sharkey hopes fewer or no park strips will make for a better waterwise solution and be a more effective use of land with increasing prices and the growing housing shortage in the state.

The housing shortage in the state and growing prices of real estate are prompting smaller homes on smaller lots, which Sharkey argued, should not have the wasted space of a park strip.

“Park strips come with an inherent list of challenges,” Sharkey said. “These issues are the reason I propose that the city council give new attention to residential park strips, and to reconsider their value, purpose and need.”

The case for park strips

Shane Pace, Sandy's chief administrative officer, said several departments don’t see the need to get rid of park strips because of the limitations it would put on other departments in the city, including where to push snow on heavy snow days and the restricted access to utility and water lines.

“I don’t see the need to make a change since the opportunity to eliminate park strips is already available through the exception process with the Planning Commission,” Pace said, noting that the city still has a “problem with lack of maintenance in our park strips and tree roots causing damage to our sidewalks.”

Pace also said with the city being an estimated 95% built out, changing the ordinance wouldn’t do enough to make a big difference.

In a letter to administrators, Sandy City Public Works Director Ryan Kump wrote that “the value of park strips to Public Works lies primarily in the real estate they provide.” 

Park strips, Kump said, provide buffer space between vehicles and pedestrians, room for essential public infrastructure such as fire hydrants and lights and offer a temporary storage area for snow cleared from roadways. 

City departments recognize the problems that Sharkey has acknowledged but believe there are different ways to fix the problem.

Martin Jensen, Sandy’s deputy chief administrative officer, said that “Flip My Strip” incentive programs exist through several different organizations in the state to help with beautifying and maintaining these areas by aiding in funding and offering ideas to reduce water waste.

“We have a beautiful, wonderful community that we can all be proud of being a part of,” Pace said. “We need to continue to work on these issues and hopefully over time resolve them.”

No decision has been made by councilmembers or administration, as this was only an information item and one won’t be made for several months as councilmembers discuss whether or not to change the park strip requirements for developers moving forward. 

Public comment is welcome throughout the process and during the city council’s dedicated public comment period, as well as to Councilmember Sharkey at [email protected]. λ