SOUTH SALT LAKE — City leaders are backing off a proposed redevelopment area that focused on the 3300 South TRAX station.
Although the decision will not officially be made until next week, the City Council — whose members also comprise the Redevelopment Agency — agreed with Mayor Randy Fitts' assessment Wednesday night that property owners in the proposed Washington redevelopment area clearly did not want to participate in the project. Fitts' comments came less than 24 hours after a lengthy public hearing about the proposal.
"It's a little discouraging," Fitts said. "But if we decide to back off this one, it's what (property owners) wanted us to do."
Eliminating the Washington redevelopment zone would allow the city to concentrate on a proposed redevelopment area near the former Fred Meyer/Grand Central store on the south side of 3300 South. The Washington redevelopment area would have bordered the north side of 3300 South, extending from Main Street to 300 West and running parallel to the light-rail tracks along Washington Street.
Property owners' primary concern was that the city would use the area's redevelopment status to exercise its power of eminent domain, which would have given the city the right to buy any property in the area it wanted.
"If you take away the pendulum of eminent domain, people will be more interested" in developing the area in other ways, he said.
Opponents of the Washington redevelopment designation applauded the City Council's unofficial decision.
"When you have uncertainty, people don't want to continue to invest in their property or their neighborhoods," resident Dan Moquin said. "Eminent domain creates uncertainty."
The opposition drive was led by the Independent Association of Community Councils, which contacted all of the property owners in both proposed redevelopment areas. In the Washington redevelopment zone, the group had already gathered enough opposition letters from property owners to halt the project, IACC Chairman Steve Norr said.
As the 3300 South redevelopment area continues to move forward, city leaders hope that property owners in the Washington area will work with city leaders to improve their neighborhoods as well. The city hopes to attract a major retailer to the former Grand Central/Fred Meyer site.
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