The city Redevelopment Agency board met behind closed doors Wednesday night to discuss a new proposal for downtown development.
The board, composed of Mayor Bob Linnell and members of the City Council, along with City Manager Tom Hardy and RDA Director Lana Hardy, met privately for about an hour to talk about Block 29, bordered by Main and 100 West, and Center and 100 South.The topic was an offer by developer Johansen-Thackeray and Co. to purchase the entire block, 3.3 acres of which already is owned by the RDA. The proposal could include the city's acquiring the remaining three privately owned Block 29 properties and then selling the block to Johansen-Thackeray, which would then develop the property and sell it to a single tenant.
Developers Armand Johansen and John Thackeray presented that proposal to the RDA in early August, following their failure to attract a Foothill Village-like shopping center to the block.
Though the RDA never has publicly announced who might purchase the block from Johansen-Thackeray, sources confirmed that a strong possibility is Ream's Food Store, now at 40 W. 200 North.
The RDA board members have not yet discussed their opinions on this particular plan. One reason, said Councilwoman Barbara Holt, is they don't know the property prices or offers on the table - which prompted the closed meeting.However, Councilwoman Renee Coon said she was uncomfortable with some of what occurred in Wednesday's closed meeting, which, incidentally, the city attorney did not attend.
"I don't know how much I should say, but I believe what they were discussing should have been in an open meeting," Coon said.
She said the board discussed, among other things, the pros and cons of the latest Johansen-Thackeray proposal.
Utah's Open Meetings Law allows closed meetings for "strategy sessions" regarding the purchase of land but does not allow closed-door discussions about a proposal's merits.
Appearing chagrined that the meeting was closed, a former Planning Commission chairwoman said she is opposed to locating a grocery store downtown.
"That is not what Bountiful needs," said Cheryl Okubo, a downtown resident who resigned from the commission Tuesday night for personal reasons. "We already have enough grocery stores."
Ideally, Okubo said, the block would become a plaza of clothing and specialty stores. But realistically, that probably won't happen because the commercial market downtown is unfavorable and doesn't appear to be improving. She said she favors a park, a museum or a civic center - something to draw people downtown to patronize existing businesses.
But before going into the closed meeting, Linnell said he is opposed to non-commercial development.
"My position is that just by definition, RDA means just that - redevelopment. The only reason (for an RDA) is to increase the tax base."
Planning Commissioner Kathy Izatt disagreed, quoting a section of the RDA law that permits development of "recreational and other facilities" deemed pertinent to the public welfare.
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Open or shut?
Did some members of the Bountiful Redevelopment Agency change their philosophy regarding closed meetings?
A year ago, in the wake of a controversial move to abolish the RDA, Mayor Bob Linnell, a member of the RDA board, said he believed all discussions of RDA issues should be conducted in open meetings.
City Councilman Harold Shafter, also an RDA board member, said he was opposed to discussing even "sensitive" RDA issues in closed meetings.
In a Sept. 13, 1990, Deseret News story, Shafter is quoted as telling the rest of the board, "If you're going to hold an executive (closed) session, you're going to do it without me."
Both the mayor and Shafter, however, voted for and attended a closed RDA meeting Wednesday night in which the board discussed the latest proposal for downtown development.