West Bountiful and Bountiful officials are one step closer to luring a new multimillion-dollar shopping and entertainment complex, which includes an anchor ShopKo department store, to the cities' I-15 interchange area.
After meeting for about four hours in a joint public hearing and separate open and closed sessions, West Bountiful and Bountiful Redevelopment Agency boards approved a plan that designates 27.6 acres east of I-15 and bordered by 500 South, 500 West and approximately Center streets as a blighted redevelopment area. The city councils and mayor serve as the redevelopment agency board.More than 75 people attended the meeting where opponents told the board that the existence of the redevelopment agency is the "real blight" in the community.
The blight designation opens the way for a proposed 200,000-square-foot complex which includes ShopKo, a theater, a grocery store and other shops. The developers, Bountiful-based Sky Properties Inc., say they plan to use 22 acres of the site, displacing several businesses and residents. They will not, however, use land occupied by the 45-unit City Center Mobile Home Estates, Scott Kjar, company representative said.
Ten landowners will be affected by the project. Nine have already signed contracts with Sky Properties. The tenth has made a verbal agreement, Kjar said.
Two parcels of land on the corner of 500 South and 500 West, where a tire business and a restaurant are located, were not included in the blight study and will not be affected by the project. Two neighboring gas stations on 500 South will also be allowed to stay, Kjar said.
The project is expected to cost $6 million to $9 million, provide 300 low and moderate-income jobs, and could mean between a $4 million and $6 million economic boost to the local economy, Kjar said.
"It is a chance for our city that we would not have any other way," West Bountiful Mayor Jerry Thompson said after the approval of the project.
If the project is constructed, West Bountiful and Bountiful will divide sales tax revenues in a 65-35 split. West Bountiful currently has no major sales tax producing areas.
Jack Billings, a longtime Bountiful RDA opponent, questioned the blight study, particularly the exclusion of the corner land parcels. He said that similar "blighted conditions" uncovered in the study area by consultant Richard Chong could be found in the excluded parcels.
"You give someone property and privilege and expect it to sift down and become benefit for all," he said.
Lawrence Barber, owner of City Center Mobile Home Estates, said he disagreed with the blight study, which asserted that there was overcrowding and was out of compliance with zoning ordinances. Barber said his park has been there for 28 years, long before present zoning ordinances were enacted.
One resident was concerned that the project may harm Bountiful's downtown merchants. Max Erickson, a business owner, disagreed.
"Business breeds business," Erickson said
South Davis Fire Chief Brent Argyle took exception to the report that said adequate fire protection is not provided the area. Chong apologized and said the report meant to say that some areas of the land are farther away from fire hydrants than standards require.
Property owner Keith Stahle said he could not "see one of the factors that can support the existence of blight." He later withdrew his objection after a closed meeting with the West Bountiful RDA board.
Kjar said the redevelopment package will be key to finishing negotiations with ShopKo, which required a reduced land price. Existing landowners also wanted tax advantages guaranteed through the sale of land to the redevelopment agency. The project deal is expected to be closed within a week.
"There is a 99 percent chance we will locate there with the approval of the RDA. Without it there is a 1 percent chance we will go on the property," said ShopKo spokesman Hans Kuhlmann.
Kuhlmann said that ShopKo has planned to build a store in the Centerville-Bountiful area as part of its Phase II expansion in the state.
ShopKo is based in Green Bay, Wis.