If either side of the debate over the proposed Grand Salt Lake Mall is looking for a mandate from the citizens, they're about to be disappointed.
A Deseret News/KSL poll, conducted last week by Dan Jones & Associates, shows a majority of Salt Lake County residents favor having a megamall somewhere in the area. It was not a large majority, however, and respondents were statistically evenly divided on the mall as it is currently proposed, west of the Salt Lake International Airport. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent."I hope people understand, and this poll indicates, that it is not an easy call," said City Council Vice Chairman Roger Thompson. "It is a major decision for development on the west side."
Thompson is leading the council on the issue in place of Chairman Carlton Christensen, who is not participating because of a potential conflict of interest.
In a breakdown of the Salt Lake City residents polled, 47 percent favor a mall somewhere nearby, but 58 percent oppose having it at the site currently proposed (36 percent were in favor). Those results were less statistically reliable, with an 8 percent margin of error.
"I'm actually really encouraged by that news," said Deeda Seed, Mayor Rocky Anderson's chief of staff. "Some of our concerns that we've been raising are resonating with people."
Nevertheless, "it will have to be a selling point either way it goes," Jones said.
Anderson is unequivocally opposed to the mall, saying it would contribute to sprawl and damage downtown businesses. The council, however, is still studying the issue and could vote either way on it.
A draft study just submitted to the council concluded that the mall would have an overall beneficial effect on the city, even though it would negatively impact existing retail at the ZCMI Center and Crossroads Plaza malls.
The poll revealed more west-side residents favor the mall than east-siders, though not by a large margin. Residents of Salt Lake's west side have long complained that they don't have enough shopping opportunities, and several community council leaders are circulating a petition in favor of the mall.
Christensen and Councilman Van Turner, who represent the west side, strongly favor the mall.
Voice of support
Saturday a group of state legislators and west-siders called a press conference at the proposed mall site, 5600 West and I-80, to voice their support of the project.
"This (mall) is the brass ring" for the west side, said Jay Ingleby, Glendale Park Community Council chairman.
Showing off a T-shirt emblazoned with "I want the sprawl mall," Ingleby announced that the pro-mall contingent would hold a rally at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Salt Lake City Hall.
Rep. Duane Bourdeaux, D-Salt Lake, began the press conference amid wind and roar from airplanes and semitrailer trucks.
"This mall can contribute to our schoolchildren, (providing) funds that are desperately needed," Bourdeaux said.
The school district would benefit, he added, from the $3 million to $5 million in annual revenues Bourdeaux estimated the mall could generate. He said that the mall would also create 3,000 jobs.
"You saw today that it's convenient and hassle-free to come out here," added state Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake. He said downtown is congested, so it's not an easy place for him or his family to shop.
Downtown can stay viable by redefining itself, Suazo said. It should add more restaurants and nightclubs, while the new outlying mall would offer retail stores and movie theaters catering to families. Those families will come here from Salt Lake's west side, from Tooele and from out of state, he predicted.
Crossroads Plaza sent a spokeswoman to the press conference to give the downtown side of the debate.
Adding another mall to Salt Lake's shopping scene would be "an oversaturation of retail," said Tami Ivy, Crossroads' marketing director. "We're concerned that it won't add incremental dollars. It will just spread the dollars around."
The west-side construction will be a "virtual nail in the coffin for downtown retailers striving to make a comeback," Village Ltd. owner Mike Wagreich said in a statement.
Dixie Carter, a member of the Glendale Community Council, sees the mall as a place where west-side teens would find part-time jobs. "It will give the kids someplace to go," she said.
As it is now, a trip downtown takes 20 minutes plus time for parking, she said, but Carter can get to the site of the proposed mall in fewer than eight minutes.
Among West Valley residents, fully 45 percent, a large plurality, want the mall to be in their city.
Whither the mall?
The possibility of the mall moving to an adjacent city from the currently proposed location is making things more complicated for the Salt Lake City Council, since it would carry all of the negative impacts but provide no tax revenue.
"That's what really makes it difficult," Thompson said. "You have this Hobbesian choice -- if you kill it, you'll still have all the negatives."
While the developer continually says relocation is almost a certainty should it be denied in Salt Lake City, Boyer Co. President Kem Gardner, who is building a large, partially competing development in the Gateway area, isn't convinced.
"I think that's a head fake to put pressure on the council," he said.
For his part, Thompson believes "emotional appeals" by the mayor have made a difference in residents' opinions.
"The mayor has taken the initiative to set the issues by calling it a 'sprawl mall' and coloring the discussion in terms of right vs. wrong and good vs. evil," he said.
In opposing the mall, various retailers have repeated that there is only so much retail market to go around. A study completed last April, however, concluded that Salt Lake's downtown has a huge retail potential if properly marketed.
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