Salt Lake City is toying with the idea of making it easier for homeowners to add apartments in residential neighborhoods.

Why it matters: City planners hope accessory dwelling units (ADUs) — like mother-in-law suites and tiny backyard houses — will help relieve the housing shortage.

• The limited inventory of apartments has driven up rents, making housing unaffordable for many residents.

Driving the news: The City Council is looking at allowing property owners to add apartments without prior approval from the Planning Commission, along with other rule changes that would:

• permit larger detached ADUs;
• allow ADUs on some commercial properties and apartment buildings;
• and loosen parking requirements in some cases.

What we're watching: The city is debating whether owners could build ADUs on properties where they don't live, which is presently banned citywide.

• One version of the proposal would remove the owner-occupancy requirement in some areas — a move some housing advocates say is necessary to make a meaningful dent in the apartment shortage.

The other side: Proponents of the owner-occupancy requirement say it helps deter investment companies from buying up single-family homes and turning them into multi-family properties as absentee landlords.

• In a council hearing last week, some residents complained those rentals would "degrade" neighborhoods.

What's next: The City Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on the new regulations at its April 4 meeting.

💭 Erin's thought bubble: I've gotten lots of suggestions to rent out my Witch House, which unfortunately lacks plumbing, electricity or clearance for a human who stands taller than 5'5".

• Yes, but: At least it doesn't leak, which I'm very proud of after designing and building it myself!

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Renovations on the Salt Lake Temple are now expected to be completed by 2026 after facing "unexpected challenges," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced last week.

What's happening: The Salt Lake Temple, built in 1893, closed in late-2019 to undergo significant remodeling and seismic upgrades.

• The revamp originally was planned to take four years, but in 2021, church leaders said the project would be delayed, with an expected completion date in 2025.

Why it matters: Temple Square is one of the most-visited destinations in Utah, welcoming between 3 and 5 million visitors each year before its closure, according to Visit Salt Lake.

• The upgrades also aim to make Temple Square more accessible to people with disabilities.

What they're saying: Construction "of the iconic Salt Lake Temple continues at a deliberate and measured pace," the church said in a news release. "However, when working with historic structures such as this pioneer-era temple, unexpected challenges are inevitable."

What's next: Projects on the northwest corner of Temple Square will be finished in early fall, per the church.

• The final completion date and the Salt Lake Temple's open house schedule have yet to be announced.

Flashback: Shortly after renovations began, a golden trumpet — part of the temple's Angel Moroni statue — fell off when a 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Salt Lake City in 2020.

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The Salt Lake City Police Department said it collected 30 firearms from its gun buyback program over the weekend — a substantial decrease from a similar event held last year.

Details: The police department and Salt Lake City Police Foundation held a no-questions-asked gun buyback program last Saturday in an effort to decrease the number of firearms in the community and to reduce gun violence.

• Police offered $50 gift cards for firearms and $100 gift cards for assault-style weapons. Before the event, the police department said it had approximately 150 gift cards to give away.
• Law enforcement said they retrieved 10 revolvers, seven rifles, six shotguns, four pistols and three assault-style rifles during the three-hour event.

Flashback: Last year's event yielded 103 firearms.

What they're saying: Mark Wian, a sergeant in the police department's public relations unit, told Axios the time of year and general awareness of the event may have contributed to this year's decrease in collections.

• "We'll go back to see how we can improve," Wian said via email. "That said — we do view this as a success. Even if we had just one firearm turned in, it would have been a success."

Between the lines: Research shows gun buyback programs on their own aren't effective at culling violent crime. They could, however, help educate communities about how to reduce gun violence.

The big picture: Salt Lake County saw a 41% increase in fatal firearm assaults between 2016 and 2020, per data from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

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🇨🇳 Pro-China advocates successfully waged an influence campaign among Utah legislators to delay legislation and pass Beijing-approved resolutions.

• China’s global influence campaign has been effective in Utah, resulting in meetings between state lawmakers and Chinese officials, as well as travel to the communist country. (Associated Press)

🦏 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be the keynote speaker at the Utah GOP Organizing Convention next month. (Salt Lake Tribune)

❗ Check out this bone-chilling footage of an avalanche at Mount Timpanogos as the "powdercloud" envelopes — but does not injure — skiers filming in the valley below. (Utah Avalanche Center via Facebook)

State lawmakers in New Mexico are considering legislation that would make roasted green chile their official state aroma.

Zoom in: Earlier this month, Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation to make brine shrimp Utah's official crustacean and porcini our state mushroom.

• Maybe a bill designating Utah's aroma could be next.

You tell us: What scent should we adopt as our official state fragrance? Sagebrush? Maple trees? Cafe Rio's sweet pork?

• Reply to this email with your suggestions. We may use your responses for a future story.

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