East Central Community Council

Salt Lake’s organically grown Urban Neighborhood!

The East Central Community Council is a 501 c-3 state and federally registered nonprofit organization located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Membership  in  the ECC is geographically based. It includes from South Temple Street to 900 South, and 700 East to 1400 East.  The ECC includes 4 neighborhoods; Bennion Gardens, Bryant Park, the Douglas Neighborhood Association and the University Gardens Neighborhood Council (also a registered 501-c3 nonprofit organization) each completely inclusive of all residents, businesses, developers, medical facilities, schools, utility providers, etc. The area includes hundreds of businesses both those with store fronts and many in homes, as well as, The University Gardens Neighborhood Business District located on 1300 East and 200 South.

East Central Community Council (ECC)  is the voice of its people both residents and business and is entrusted as the guardians of our community. The ECC acts to preserve, enhance and promote our quality of life be that at home, at school or work. We invite and welcome community members to join us. There is a place for everyone to become involved in a host of diverse projects, plans and activities that sustain the land and the people of this historical community. The ECC  is a unique and vibrant place to live, work and visit.

Known for its beauty, this community organizations originated in 1906 where those in the area met together and often to work, live, worship, learn and socialize. There were gatherings to help plant, dig springs, plan rose gardens,  design arboretums, serve one another, shop at the local market and solve the problems of the day.  Service and all manner of civic matters were on everyone’s mind. The local fireman and neighborhood kids played basketball while our local businesses flourished. In 1926, the community organization became more formal but it was in 1979 that it incorporated with the State of Utah.

In 2009 the ECC reinvented itself with a complete reorganization and revamping of processes and functions to better serve the community and to better align with core organizational values, goals and to utilize best practices from around the country.

Governance of the organization is by its elected officers and Executive Board that serve five year terms.   All day-to-day functions of the organization are managed by the Chairs of the organization. The voting officers include two Chairpersons, a Financial Officer, Communications Officer and a Public Relations Officer. The voting Executive Board includes a Business Representative, a Neighborhood Representatives from each of the neighborhoods and one representative from the organized University Gardens Neighborhood Business District. The Chairpersons are the official spokespersons and press contacts of the organization.

With the help of the BYU Marriott School, Romney Institute of Public and Non-profit Management,  East Central has developed and pioneered  an extensive community outreach process that has proved very successful. A great deal of the work of the ECC is completed in it’s many committees. Standing committees of the ECC include the Community Development/Land Use Committee (CD/LU), Porchfest Salt Lake Committee, Bylaws Committee, Communications Committee and Emergency Preparedness Committee.  Adhoc committees are established for specific goals and time limited projects. Due to the extensive amount of development in the area,  high infrastructure needs, a charming and yet endangered historic character and divergent land uses reflected  in side by side zones, one of the chairs of the Organization oversees the  Community Development and Land Use Committee. Core tenants of the community development/land use committee  include  beauty, preservation/reuse, early involvement, team work, strategic development, good stewardship, harmony, care of precious resources and peaceful mitigation.