David C. Atkin Running For Salt Lake City Council District 1

I have a big announcement, I have won the primary election and been moved to the general election, thank you everybody who voted for me.

Hello I'm David C. Atkin from Salt Lake City, and I am running for city council in district 1. I come from a

high tech background, and I am new to this game, but I have some Ideas that could truly change things in Salt Lake City.

I am very concerned about our city and the downtown area, it's is getting to be a harder area to bring a family for events and gatherings. It is our city and we should feel at home in it.

It is time to make some noticeable  changes to our city, changes that people can actually see, changes that make a difference to business in the local area and to the families that live in Salt Lake City.

This is the campaign platform for David C. Atkin for Salt Lake City Council District 1 

David’s Issues

Establishing A Home Business: 

1. The laws limit what kind of business you can do from your home. 

I would like to make changes to this law based on the location of your property to a business or commercial district. 

1. A: As a home business you would need to follow all regulations and standards as they are applied in the business district. All inspections would be done by the city as in the business district. 

1. B: In addition to the home business location. The home business location, you would have to be within one mile of a business district, and would need to pass all inspections that any business would pass. 

1. C: As a home business, you would be required to maintain the appearance of your business to a very high standard. The primary place of business must look well maintained and up to date. 

1. D: You’d be able to build a structure behind your home as long as it does not overshadow the home or dwarf the property. The structure could not be bigger than the house and could be one-half the size of the hose or three-quarters if approved by the city. 

Current building guidelines 

Any portion of an accessory building shall occupy not more than 50% of the total area located between the rear facade of the principal building and the rear lot line. 

FR, R-1, R-2, SR-1 and SR-3 residential districts, the maximum building coverage of all accessory buildings, excluding hoop houses, greenhouses, and cold frames, shall not exceed 50% of the building footprint of the principal structure up to a maximum of 720 sq. ft. for a single-family dwelling and 1,000 sq. ft. for a two-family dwelling. 

SR-1A, the maximum footprint for an accessory structure is limited to 480 sq. ft. with an additional 120 sq. ft. allowed for a secondary accessory structure. 

What I propose: Shall be left as is: Any portion of an accessory building shall occupy not more than 50% of the total area located between the rear facade of the principal building and the rear lot line. 

Proposed changes: FR, R-1, R-2, SR-1 and SR-3 residential districts, the maximum building coverage of all accessory buildings, excluding hoop houses, greenhouses, and cold frames, shall not exceed 50% of the building 

footprint of the principal structure up to a maximum of 720 sq. ft. for a single-family dwelling and 1,000 sq. ft. for a two-family dwelling. 

Special Usage shall include but is not limited to. 

1. Use as storage for the house and it's residents as approved by the city. 

2. Use as a work private shop or as a business, must pass all of the same city inspections as a business in the business district. 

3. My not be more than 2000 Sq ft, and the building must look well maintained at all times. 

4. Shall apply to both single and two family dwellings. 5. Must be usage approved by the city of Salt Lake. 

Eminent Domain:

At this time eminent domain of your property is done on a fair market value right now, 

I would seek to change the law so the city or state entity acquiring the property would have to have a private company estimate the value of your property and then it would go through a bidding 

process as if they were going to buy the property through a Realtor. 

As a normal purchase of property, the owner would have the right to submit a counter bid to the offer of the city or state entity so the property owner can buy a comparable piece of property. It shall be a completely fair process 

1. Jobs For Veterans: I would like to give companies in the Salt Lake area tax incentives, and other incentives for hiring veterans and keeping them gainfully employed. 

This needs to be done, for our veterans be successful. 

2. Education: I would like to make Salt Lake the first city to embrace the idea of vouchers to help kids get a better education. and give parents more choices of the place that their kids attend school.

3. Community Policing: I would like to be able to hire more policemen and woman for the down town area of Salt Lake to help bring the local crime down, by better policing we can create a better commercial area down town. 

4. Homeless Veterans: I would like to make it easier for veterans to be put in homes, by creating a home for veterans plan, and helping them get back to work so they can afford a home.

5. Medical Care For Veterans: I would like to make Salt Lake the first city to allow veterans to choose the medical facility that they’d like to use, so they can get the care that they need quickly and efficiently. 

6. Illegal Immigration: I would like to empower the police to be able to determine a person’s status by asking simple questions, without worrying about a personal law suit or a suit against the department.

7. Homeless: I will be working with local churches and city organizations to help mitigate the homeless problem in the downtown area of Salt Lake City. I have made alliances with a local church to help get these people educated and back to work.

8. Drug Dealing: After conversations with local churches and businesses in the downtown area I have discovered that a lot of these people are using the idea of being homeless to push their drugs in the down town area.

9. Alliances: I will try to form strong alliances with the police in the area to combat drug dealing in the Rio Grand and Pioneer park areas. 

I will make suggestions to the police to start monitoring automotive traffic in and out of the area to locate the drug buyers and start to arrest them.

10. Homeless Shelters In Downtown Salt Lake City: Homeless shelters are going to have to prove that they are working to help the people on the street rather than enable them to live on the street. 

No longer will they get local, state and federal funding just to help these people live, I will start pushing the education of these homeless to get them off of the street. 

The ones with probable mental illness will have a place to get help. 

I will work with the shelters to make sure that these things happen. I have spoken with the police that patrols the area, and they say that it is not mostly homeless people, who truly have cause to be there.

It is drug dealers squatting in the downtown area to sell their drugs, and the local law makes it difficult for the police to do anything.

They arrest people and they are back later that day to buy and sell their drugs. 

We need to make it not profitable for these people to run their illegal enterprises in our city. 

Great news, I have won the primary election and have been moved to the general election. 

Where I will no doubt have an up hill battle against the incumbent James Rogers  and I need your help to get things done and bring ideas that will truly help our city thrive.

David will work hard to make things happen for the Salt Lake City Area. I will be in the downtown area for about 1 week handing out business cards and talking with people.

We will post answers to the questions that you have. If you would like answers to your questions please add your first name and last initial so we can get it done.