When Tom Dolan takes over the mayor's chair in January, one of his first jobs will be naming a salesman to get private enterprise to locate retail business and office buildings in the empty pastures around the South Towne Mall.
"I'm in discussions right now with the City Council over whether we want to have our own economic-development director or work with the chamber (of commerce) or do both," Dolan said.The mayor-elect said Sandy for more than a year has done little to fill up the area, which has been set aside for just such commercial development.
Most residents seem to want to see the area built up. Voters approved a bond issue to build a sparkling new city hall at the north end of the neighborhood, someday anchoring what planners envision as a teeming center of commerce and government. And according to a late-October survey by Dan Jones & Associates of 400 registered Sandy voters, 65 percent favor the area becoming the city's new "downtown."
Progress has occurred sporadically, however.
The South Towne Mall, which some say was built a few years ahead of its time, has about 50 stores and does steady but hardly booming business. An auto-dealership mall further south has not attracted many tenants yet. And the mostly open space that is the heart of the area on the east side of I-15 between 10600 South and Centennial Parkway is still up for grabs. The $7.8 million city hall, one of the biggest in Utah, opened its doors this fall.
Dennis Tenney, a council member, says Sandy needs to pay somebody full-time to court businesses that might want to move to the neighborhood.
"The city has not done that," said Tenney, who said a formal deal between City Hall and Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce might put the right person in charge of such an effort. The city already contributes $38,000 annually to the business group.
"There have been several processes over the years designed to name goals, but we've come up with no plan to implement them," said Dolan, who was elected as a City Hall outsider. "It's time we did something."
Deseret News poll
Sandy city leaders have pursued a development stratey that creates a commericial-government center in the area of 10600 South and I-15, turning the area into Sandy's new downtown. Do you favor or oppose this policy?
Strongly Favor 30%
Somewhat Favor 35%
Somewhat Oppose 13%
Strongly Oppose 12%
Don't know 11%
Poll conducted Oct. 25-27. Margin of error plus or minus 5 percent on interviews of 400 adults from Sandy. Conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.