A proposal that would create a government partnership with private businesses in an effort to bring Utah's small-town Main Streets back to commercial life has made it to the floor of the House.A similar measure passed the House last year only to miss a last-minute cut in the Senate.
It calls for $710,000 in state money over three years to be matched by local grants and donations to begin four pilot programs in as-yet unnamed cities with populations of less than 50,000.
The proposal would set up a program with the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center, which is associated with similar efforts in 35 other states, according to Rep. Kim R. Burningham, R-Bountiful, the bill's sponsor. It would pay for assorted technical expertise.
Burningham said the national center "has encouraged communities to solve the problems of their deteriorating downtowns not necessarily by tearing them down and building malls . . . there are inherent qualities that ought to be capitalized on."
He said the bill is a product of the Legislature's Economic Development Interim Committee.
Utah League of Cities and Towns lobbyist Dave Spatafore, who made a floor speech in favor of the proposal this week, said the bill would work hand-in-hand with Gov. Mike Leavitt's proposals for more rural enterprise zones.
"When you talk about public-private partnership, this is the perfect example," said Spatafore, who said because the program would be handled in Utah by the Department of Economic Development "it would require no additional layer of government."
"It's another economic development tool for local business communities to help themselves," said Spatafore, noting that it requires participating towns to have local downtown associations involved.
He dismissed last year's passage failure as the typical fate of a fresh proposal.
"Whenever you're talking about a new program, you're looking at more than one year."
Staff writer Matthew Brown contributed to this story.