The Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has commissioned a sweeping and lengthy poll of Salt Lake City residents in an attempt to take the city's pulse about the church's Main Street Plaza.
"The church is conducting an opinion survey regarding the new church plaza," church spokesman Dale Bills said. "A number of polls have been taken with differing results reported in the news media. The church is conducting its own study as a means of listening to the community and better understanding how people feel about the plaza."
But besides gaining city residents' plaza opinions, they say the questions go deeper.
Those who have taken the poll say it seeks to discover not only what people think about the plaza but why they feel the way they do. The poll is being conducted by the Wirthlin Group and takes about 20 to 25 minutes to complete. Polling began earlier this week and is ongoing.
Besides asking what people think about the Main Street Plaza brouhaha and why they think the way they do, the poll asks responders to evaluate various public performances concerning the Main Street issue. It starts with that of Mayor Rocky Anderson, followed by the Salt Lake City Council, the LDS Church and, finally, the American Civil Liberties Union.
Public opinion regarding Main Street Plaza will be forefront next month when the Salt Lake City Council takes public comment about whether it should cede the city's public-access easement on Main Street Plaza to the church.
In 1999, the LDS Church purchased the block of Main Street where the plaza now sits for $8.1 million. To facilitate the sale, the City Council passed an ordinance closing the street between South Temple and North Temple. Former Mayor Deedee Corradini then sold the street to the church, which turned it into a pedestrian plaza.
The sale gave the church the right to control conduct, dress and speech on the Main Street block while guaranteeing 24-hour public access through the plaza. Access was ensured through a city easement. The LDS Church was also given exclusive proselytizing rights there.
With the First Unitarian Church as its client, the ACLU sued the city and the LDS Church over the sale. On Oct. 9, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court ruled the church's conduct, dress and speech restrictions and exclusive rights were unconstitutional because public access was guaranteed. This week, the court denied the church's request to have the entire 10th Circuit reconsider the case. The church has said it will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The church has 90 days to file that appeal. However, it may ask for a 30-day extension.
Anderson maintains the easement is real property and falls under his authority as mayor. In his mind, he will not relinquish the city's easement because the city needs to keep its public access.
The council, however, now believes it has the power to amend the ordinance that shut down Main Street so the easement would be written out of existence.
A Dan Jones poll commissioned by the Deseret News and KSL-TV last month of 1,252 Utahns showed 49 percent wanted the city to give up its easement. Another 21 percent said the city should keep its easement but join the church's appeal, while 24 percent said the city should keep its easement and not join the appeal.
When only Salt Lake City residents were asked, however, the results were much different. Of those who live in Salt Lake City proper, only 34 percent wanted the city to give its easement to the LDS Church. Another 19 percent said the city should keep the easement and join the appeal, while a plurality — 43 percent — wanted the city to keep the easement and not join the appeal.
E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com